Weekend shift augurs well for businesses in Kingdom
WITH the royal decree issued by Custodian of the Two Mosques King Abdullah switching the weekend to Friday and Saturday, the Kingdom has got the opportunity to share four working days with the Western and European markets and that’s a real significant advantage.
After Oman that switched to new weekend on May 1, Saudi Arabia become the second Gulf country to follow other GCC members in changing its weekend to Friday and Saturday. In particular, Kingdom's businessmen and economists are the first to rejoice because they are the ones to benefit most out of this weekend change.
The decision came as a surprise move but it’s definitely a wise step as it is bound to enhance liaison and cooperation between the Kingdom and the West's economy, boost the banking sector, financial institutions and the stock market.
Moreover, private sector and commercial establishments will have ample opportunities to perform business transactions, interact more with the regional and International markets and benefit considerably from cost-savings that will result.
Changing three working days to four makes a big difference. There’s another extra day for business and it would definitely increase productivity and have positive impact on trade and commerce. Taking into account the positive factors the justification for weekend shift can be understood.
Though we had been accustomed to Thursday-Friday weekend for years and hence, initially it might not suit some people, the shift is beneficial for all of us. Now, Saudi Arabia can well synchronize its business with neighboring countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates — and also communicate and coordinate with its foreign counterparts at the global level that will result in improving business relations and speeding up economic progress.
With this weekend shift, let’s say ‘goodbye’ to the negative consequences and the lost economic opportunities that were due to differences in work days between local department, ministries and institutions and their regional and international counterparts. On the whole, we wish good luck to Saudi Arabia with its great move and hope it will promote business with the rest of the world and bring forth economic gains and growth to the country.
After all, Friday being the Islamic holy day of the week — like a family day — people are in festive mood. Then follows Saturday, with easy morning and more time for relaxation and meet personal commitments.
Hence, shifting weekend to Friday and Saturday is perfect. We welcome this change and hope to get accustomed to it very soon.
• @ majawad23
