MAKKAH, 8 December 2003 — Businessmen will soon be spared the trouble of carrying bundles of papers and queuing up for hours waiting their turn to get documents attested at the chambers of commerce.
Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr. Hashem Yamani has approved a new electronic system allowing the official authentication of documents through the Internet.
The e-attestation service, a project introduced by the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, will be provided at a rate of SR30 per paper, Al-Madinah Arabic daily reported on Saturday. But the minister has asked the chambers to continue the ordinary attestation service at the present rate of SR20, the paper said.
“The charge for electronic attestation was increased by SR10 to cover the expenses of the council of chambers because it had to contract a number of experts,” the paper said quoting informed sources.
The electronic system will enable businessmen to attest their documents from any location without visiting their chamber. It will also help curb forgery and cut the number of attesting clerks by 80 percent, the paper said.
Businessmen have welcomed the move, and the service will be expanded to cover all types of attestations, gradually replacing the current system. The council described the system as fast and secure and said it would take the country a step further on the road to globalization.
The main beneficiaries of the new service will be leading chambers like the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which has more than 24,300 subscribers. Many of these are categorized as VIP, first and second class subscribers. Their number is on the rise at the expense of third and fourth class categories who form the bulk of the 20,000 subscribers.
“The project is being implemented with the cooperation of an international firm and a local company, both of which are specialized in information technology. Users have to verify their identity and must be a chamber subscriber. They are then given a certificate authorizing him to sign the documents intended for attestation,” said a chamber official.
