Saudi wholesalers suffer as expats leave

In the wake of the Ministry of Labor’s raids, a number of Saudi wholesalers have either closed shop or lost money because expatriate workers and retailers have fled or been deported, a local daily reported.
Many expatriate retailers have left without paying for stock ordered from wholesalers, Deputy Chairman of the Traders Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) Wasef Kabli said in a statement.
“What happened is that the recently launched inspections resulted in the closure of retail businesses, which were operated by expatriates. They fled without settling their accounts. The wholesalers do not know how to get their money back,” said Kabli.
If an expatriate retailer is deported, as has happened with many of these traders, the wholesaler has no hope of getting his money back, he added.
Kabli commended the Labor Ministry’s measures to achieve effective and broader Saudization by regulating the market. But, he said, the authorities have created difficulties by not allowing expatriates a three-month grace period to change their sponsorship. This has affected expatriates who are in the country legally, and who have consent letters from their previous sponsors.
“Therefore we want a parallel system in which a worker, who has a valid iqama and permitted to transfer his sponsorship, has a period of three months as a (grace) period,” he said.
He added that he planned to send requests in this regard to Interior Minister Prince Muhammad bin Naif, Labor Minister Adel Fakeih and the director of the Passports Department.