However, some clients pay 50 percent of the contract value without getting positive results of PR plans. At the same time, the size of PR activities in the Saudi Market is still less than 25 percent, according to Shadi Zahid, president of Phenomenal for PR and Events.

Local PR agencies face tough competition from their international counterparts, especially the American agencies that have a strong presence in the Saudi market. Clients always prefer global agencies as they are believed to be equipped with good PR culture and offering professional strategies to promote the commercial business of the clients. It is also said that local agencies focus only on media service covering the client's commercial activities, such as media relations, drafting and translating press releases. According to some clients, the PR agencies are required to take into account professional culture when working on PR strategies for the clients. More than 50 local agencies ended their business in the Kingdom because their clients withdrew or cancelled the contracts, Salem Hafez, a PR consultant, said.

"Local PR agencies offer only media services to the clients. But the client may hire employees who can do the same services the local PR agencies offer. Therefore, many local PR agencies cannot continue in the market. However, global PR agencies offer professional PR strategies. 20 to 30 percent of global PR agencies have offices in the Kingdom. Many clients contract with global agencies because of their professional strategies and specialized teams in PR and mass communication. However, there are successful local PR agencies in the Kingdom who have professionals and experts with their long previous global PR agency experience," Abdullah Abdul Ghani, media manager in Hill & Knowlton Strategies, told Arab News.

Mohammed Abdullah who works in the private sector prefers to contract with global PR agencies due to their professional expertise. "The local PR agencies need to acquire a professional culture of PR and they need to be more specialized in the PR domain, instead of merely focusing on media affairs. The clients always are looking for the overseas experience of agencies to promote their commercial brands in the local market. However, it is said, local agencies do not have the same experience that global agencies have with a long history extending to more than 50 years," said Mohammed.

"Local PR agencies do not have enough experience to compete with major agencies in the Saudi market. The local agencies' share in the Saudi market is less than 5 percent. American clients, for example, prefer to contract with American PR agencies the world over," Farooq Al-Khateeb, economic professor in King Abdulaziz University said.

"The main obstacle of local PR agencies is their lack of resources to hire professionals and experts, or offer PR training for updating the skills of their employees. They have to offer sample services to the clients like drafting clients' news or translation service, depending on employees who worked previously as journalists. However, the clients focus on professional strategies to promote their commercials brands in the local market," said Al-Khateeb.

"As a local PR agency, we have to depend on local employees' experiences. The global agencies have foreign employees who do not have good knowledge of local society to make good PR plans among the local media and the community. A majority of American agencies face problems with Saudi society due to ignorance of the society," Zahid said.

"However, there are many owners of local agencies who tend to tarnish the image of their local counterparts in the presence of clients. More than 200 local agencies do not have official permits to work in the PR domain. I can open an office of my agency in the United States to enhance the two-way commercial exchange between the Kingdom and US, but our share in the US market is just one percent. However, there is an urgent need to get good support from official bodies in the Kingdom to enhance the presence of small local agencies in the Saudi market," Zahid added.