«عكاظ» ترصد.. 9534 وكالة تجارية قائمة في السعودية

A survey conducted by "Okaz" revealed that the total number of existing and licensed commercial agencies in the Ministry of Commerce reached approximately 9,534 agencies by the end of last week.

Investors will be allowed to obtain a commercial agency through the electronic services of the Ministry of Commerce, which enables beneficiaries to have an agent or distributor the right to practice commercial agency activities for Saudi companies or institutions or foreign companies contracted with in Saudi Arabia through an electronic commercial agency contract between the two parties, without the need to visit the ministry's branches.

Conditions for Obtaining a Commercial Agency

Regarding the conditions for obtaining a commercial agency, the Ministry of Commerce confirmed that "non-Saudis, whether as natural or legal persons, are not allowed to be commercial agents in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, provided that Saudi companies must have their capital fully Saudi, and that the members of their boards of directors and managers, as well as those who have the right to sign on their behalf, are Saudis, with a commercial registration that matches the agency's activity. If both parties to the contract are Saudis, the contract must be certified by the Chamber of Commerce in the Kingdom for both parties." However, if the principal is foreign, the original contract must be certified by the following competent authorities: "the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the principal's country, the Chamber of Commerce in the principal's country (if available), the Saudi embassy in the principal's country, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Saudi Chamber of Commerce, or through Apostille certification."

Requirement for the Agent to Contract with the Parent Company Directly Without a Mediator

The Ministry of Commerce emphasized the necessity for the agent to contract directly with the producing company (the parent company) or its equivalent in its home country without any mediator outside its state. The commercial agency or distribution contract must include the following data: (the name of the commercial agent or distributor, whether an individual or a company, the main or branch commercial registration number that grants the applicant the right to practice the agency, the address of the agent or distributor, the name of the person authorized to manage the establishment or sign on its behalf, the types and names of the goods and services listed in the contract, the name of the principal and their nationality, the address of the principal's headquarters, the address of the industrial or agricultural center producing the goods listed in the contract, the area of the agency or distribution and its duration), and the obligations of both parties towards each other and towards the consumer.

The ministry confirmed the obligation to clarify the subject of the "agency, its area, and what it includes in terms of activities, services, and goods, as well as clarifying the contract's effective date, duration, how to terminate it, and how to renew it, and translating the contract into Arabic (from a certified translation office) if the contract is not in Arabic. It should also clarify the official name of the foreign company in the contract in both Arabic and English without any abbreviations or symbols, and specify the competent judicial authority or country that will be referred to in case of disputes between the two parties (to be mentioned in the contract), with the possibility of including any other conditions in the contract that do not conflict with the regulations in force in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the signatures of both parties on the contract.