JEDDAH, 5 March 2008 — Abdullah Zainal Alireza, the newly appointed minister of commerce and industry, said he would present a plan to reduce the prices of consumer goods to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah next week.

“I have a plan to control and monitor prices and confront the repercussions of inflation,” Alireza told Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper following his new appointment.

“I will exert all efforts in the service of the country and its people. I will work to gain the confidence of the king and fulfill his ambitions to promote the welfare of citizens,” he said.

Consumers and businessmen alike expect that the new minister would give top priority to contain rising prices and inflation. “I think the most important issue to be tackled is the supervision of retail outlets,” said Lafi Al-Harbi, a business owner, adding that the price increases are mainly due to a lack of supervision.

Zuhair Al-Qurashi, another businessman, said he thinks that the anti-fraud committee in the Ministry of Commerce should be more active in stamping out counterfeiting and piracy in the Kingdom. He added that counterfeit goods are causing incredible damage to businesses and consumers alike.

“The minister needs to increase corporate responsibility by personally looking into the problems in the local marketplace in relation to fraudulent price increases,” said businessman Maher Bundugji. “I also feel that the ministry should set stricter competition laws and punish traders found inflating prices,” he added.

Abdulkareem Munshi feels the ministry should do more to supervise shops and identify fraud by getting feedback from citizens. He said establishing an open e-mail contact with the Ministry of Commerce in which citizens could voice their concerns would be a good way for the new minister to initiate change.

Taking a more reassuring tone, Omar Bawazir, another businessman, said that he was sure that the new minister knows what he is doing and is fully aware of the dilemmas facing consumers. He added that he believes Alireza would work on solving these problems as well as those facing businessmen, including the easing of ministry regulations on permits for building projects and the establishment of industrial cities.

Commenting on what the minister’s role should be, Mohammed Al-Angari said, “The new minister must be understanding and very active in putting plans and studies into effect.”

However, despite remarks made by Alireza to a local Arabic language newspaper in which he said that the price increases are just one of his priorities, many have realized the responsibility of stabilizing prices isn’t entirely on the shoulders of the new minister. “I don’t think it matters whether the government appoints a new minister or not,” said Mariam Hassan, a business management student at King Abdul Aziz University.

“My family has had to be extra careful when we go out shopping as food and other items are so expensive,” she added.

Hassan said the Ministry of Commerce should monitor traders, but believes the price problem is the result of global inflation and not the minister’s fault.

Inflation — which topped 7 percent in January, the highest level in more than 25 years — and the Kingdom’s unwillingness to de-peg from a 22-year currency link with a weakening US dollar have caused food prices and rents to skyrocket for the ninth straight month.

The prices of essential commodities such as flour, milk, rice and eggs have risen three-fold and have led to a number of consumer complaints and governmental attempts in controlling the situation by offering subsidies and the raising of salaries for government employees.

Consumer dissatisfaction with price hikes on essential commodities such as fresh milk earlier this year led to an ineffective five-day milk boycott, which some say would have been more effective if citizens would have taken a firm stand against greedy traders and refused to purchase goods at increased prices.

“Saudi consumers shouldn’t just blame shop owners and the Ministry of Commerce for the increase in prices but should also decide firmly not to buy goods at such high prices,” said Talal, a private sector employee.

“It is certain that the new minister has quite a challenging job ahead but with everyone’s participation I think that a common ground can be found to make both business owners and consumers happy again,” Talal said.