RIYADH, 17 July — A specialist economic team yesterday started work on setting up an economic databank in Riyadh. The project aims to overcome shortage of economic data in the Kingdom and to unify sources of information on the industrial, agricultural and real estate sectors. The project also aims at boosting investments, strengthening competitive edge and meeting conditions for joining the World Trade Organization. Hussein Al-Athel, secretary-general of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said a permanent committee would be set up to supervise the database. The project involved 21 databases, five of them including those on industries, trade, agriculture and real estate in the first stage. Al-Athel said the team has completed the first phase of collecting field data about some 43,000 establishments. Other phases include reviewing data, setting up an electronic database, feeding data, revising and analyzing them. (AN)
