RIYADH, 7 May — An advisory team comprising 15 businessmen from various trades and specialties in the area of e-commerce has been set up by the Saudi government to coordinate with potential investors in the electronic trade sector. This was announced at the e-commerce conference which Riyadh Governor Prince Salman inaugurated at the King Faisal Hall tonight on behalf of Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard.
Minister of Industry and Electricity and Acting Minister of Commerce Dr. Hashim A. Yamani, Dr. Saleh Al-Athel, president of King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Cabinet ministers, senior government officials and overseas participants were present. An e-commerce exhibition was also held on the sidelines of the conference.
The inauguration of the e-commerce conference heralded the start of the e-commerce-cum-exhibition which will run till May 10. The event has attracted representatives from 30 internationally renowned companies, besides a large number of Saudi organizations. Speaking on behalf of the crown prince, Prince Salman said that with preparations under way to cope with the requirements of e-commerce in the world, its impact was being felt in our daily life across the broad spectrum of social, cultural, economic and other aspects.
He said this new technology, with its manifold applications, has evoked international concern as they are creating an impact on the world economy as well their commercial relations with other countries. “One of the most important applications is the electronic commerce, which will be the subject of this conference.”
Earlier, Britain had declared its willingness to cooperate with the Kingdom in providing technical input into the structure of Saudi e-commerce regulations to enhance their security features.
Richard Barrington, director for industry in the UK Office of the e-Envoy announced the move at the British Embassy. Barrington arrived here yesterday to attend the e-commerce conference and e-commerce exhibition opening tonight for a four-day run.
He called on Deputy Minister of Commerce for Technical Affairs Dr. Fawaz Alamy and vice president of King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology for Research Institutes Dr. Mohammed Al-Suwayel.
Both organizations are among the six government agencies involved in drafting the e-commerce regulations.
Asked how Britain was dealing with the problem of copyright violations involving music or intellectual piracy on the Internet, Barrington said the music industry had developed ‘biodegradable files’ which have a limited time frame together with other built-in safeguards to thwart pirates of intellectual copyrighted material.
Welcoming Saudi Arabia’s initiative on e-commerce and e-government, he said it would boost administrative productivity and efficiency and reduce paper work.
