Abdulillah Abdullah Mahmood Zahid is the founder and chairman of United International Transportation Company Ltd., known as Budget Rent a Car Saudi Arabia, a company that just rented its first car to a Canadian woman, our very own senior editor Mo Gannon.

Zahid pursued his bachelor’s degree in management and urban planning from the University of California. He received his master’s degree in the same field from the same US university in 1976, two years before he founded Budget in the Kingdom.

Zahid founded the company in 1978 with a single office and a fleet of 20 vehicles, and he has managed to raise that number up to 90 rental offices and a fleet of over 18,000 cars in four decades, making it one of the largest car rental companies in the MENA region. 

Under his supervision and guidance, Budget won Saudi Arabia’s Leading Car Rental Company award eight times, showing how Zahid’s policy of “Customers Always First” has continued to pay off.

He is a member of the National Transportation Committee and also serves as a senior member of the Organization of Car Rental Companies in the kingdom.

Khalid Zahid, COO of Budget Saudi Arabia, said that there were no restrictions on women employing the services of car rental companies.

The only requirement to rent a car in the Kingdom is to have a valid Iqama or national ID, a valid Saudi driver’s license in case of a resident or national, and/or a valid GCC driver’s licenses for those who visit from abroad, he said.

Additionally, in Saudi Arabia, one must be over 21 to rent an affordable car brand, and 23 and above for those wishing to ride in luxury. The same is applicable for women drivers, said Hattan Madani, a Budget customer service employee.