Biz_InternationaL!

SAUDI ARABIA CHANGES WORKING
WEEK TO SUNDAY-THURSDAY:
OFFICIAL STATEMENT

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia has announced it is
switching its official weekend to Fridays and Saturdays, bringing the kingdom's working week closer in line with other countries in a move long desired by many of
the country's businesses.
Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arab economy, had been the only member of the six-member Gulf
Cooperation Council to have a Thursday-Friday weekend after
Oman shifted to a Friday-Saturday weekend last month.
The surprise move, which will be applied from this week, was
immediately welcomed by Saudi
economists and businessmen as giving the private sector an extra day of alignment with
international businesses.
"It will increase interface with the rest of the world, now
things will move faster," said Ali al-Ajmi, a former vice president at state oil company Saudi Aramco who now runs a project management business.
Abdulrahman al-Ubaid, a former vice president at Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), the world's biggest petrochemcial
company, and now managing director of Saudi Development
and Innovation Group, also welcomed the change.
"We expect the impact to be positive on the Saudi economy,
we think our business will be easier," he said.
Saudi Arabia is considering opening its stock market to
more direct foreign investment in the future. At present, stocks move considerably on shifts in global equities and commodities markets.
Although the world's top oil exporter had discussed looking
at the change in its weekend in the future, few people had expected it to make the switch
so soon.
However, some Saudi
companies, including food producer Savola had already announced they would change their own weekend to Friday and Saturday to improve their
coordination with regional partners.
The fact the change is
happening in June, after schools have closed and while many Saudis are on holiday before the
Ramadan fast which starts on July 9, means it will be less
jarring, economists said.
"Instead of having just three working days aligned with the
rest of the world, now you will have a full team for most of the
working week that the rest of the world applies. One extra day
does play a considerable role in
increasing output," said John Sfakianakis of chief investment
officer at Masic investment in Riyadh.
Traditionally Saudis had a six-day working week, taking off
Fridays when Muslims are enjoined to attend mosque for communal prayers, but the
government added Thursday to the official weekend.
Some religious conservatives had argued against moving to a Friday-Saturday weekend
because they feared it smacked of westernisation. However, that argument did not enjoy serious support, said Saudi sociologist
Khalid al-Dakhil.
"In terms of religious
opposition, yes there might be some, but there's absolutely no
unanimity in opposing this course among religious people,"he said.
A statement on Sunday on national Saudi news agency SPA said the change, decreed by King
Abdullah, will take effect as of this weekend, "for the sake of putting an end to the negative
effects and the lost economic opportunities consistently associated with variation based on work days between local departments, ministries and
institutions and the regional and international counterparts."King Abdullah issued the decree following a recommendation in
April by the Kingdom's Shura
Council, which advises the government on new laws, to investigate changing the country's official weekend from the current Thursday and Friday.