JEDDAH, 25 August — Saudi businessmen incur a loss of over SR1 billion as a result of trade fraud including imitation of trade marks, according to Mohammed Al-Harbi, director of the Commerce Ministry’s office in Jeddah.
He told Arab News that his office had received 638 complaints about trade fraud in a single year.
"There is good coordination between the ministry and other government departments to prevent marketing of imitation products in the Kingdom," Harbi said.
Imitation products account for 30 percent of total products in the market, he added.
Major companies have been putting pressure on the government to take effective steps to prevent trade fraud.
Economic analysts said imitation products would force small businessmen to leave the market as they would not be able to bear the losses.
