RIYADH: A total of 290 cases of violation of the Commercial Concealment Law were registered in the Kingdom last year, and the same have been referred to the Bureau for Investigation and Public Prosecution.
An official from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI) said the highest number of violations took place in Makkah with 83 cases, followed by the Eastern Region (58) and Riyadh (47).
Upon completion of inquiry by the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution Authority, the official said, the cases will be referred to the Bureau of Grievances for final verdict. The penalties for such violations may reach up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to SR1 million for each violator, while non-Saudis would be deported after the penalties. The MCI stressed that it would continue its inspection campaigns to combat violation of the law, and to respond to the complaints received from government agencies, individuals and residents.
This step came after the ministry named and defamed some parties that violated the law recently, and verdicts were issued by the Bureau of Grievances.
Article One of the Commercial Concealment Law stipulates that a non-Saudi may not, under any circumstances, engage or invest in any activity without a license under the Foreign Investment Law or under any other laws, regulations or decisions.
In applying this law, any person enabling a non-Saudi to invest or engage in any activity he is prohibited from investing or engaging in, shall be deemed to be committing an act of concealment, whether by way of using his name, license, commercial registration or by any other means.
290 cases of commercial concealment last year
290 cases of commercial concealment last year
Saudi, Pakistan defense chiefs discuss ‘measures needed to halt’ Iranian attacks on Kingdom
RIYADH: Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Pakistan’s Chief of Defense Forces Asim Munir discussed Iran’s attacks on the Kingdom, amid the escalating military conflict in the Middle East.
“We discussed Iranian attacks on the Kingdom and the measures needed to halt them within the framework of our Joint Strategic Defense Agreement,” Prince Khalid wrote on social media early on Saturday.
“We stressed that such actions undermine regional security and stability and expressed hope that the Iranian side will exercise wisdom and avoid miscalculation.”
The US and Israel began a large-scale military campaign against Iran on Feb. 28. Iran has since attacked a number of sites across the Gulf.
Tehran has also attacked US and Israeli military assets as the war as escalated, impacting lives in the peaceful Arabian Gulf peninsula and risked shaking the global economy as Iran continued restricting energy shipping along the Strait of Hormuz.
The Saudi Defense Ministry said a number of drones had been shot down that were targeting the Shayba oil field in the Empty Quarter on Saturday.
A drone attacked the US embassy in Riyadh on Tuesday causing a minor fire, but no one was hurt in the incident.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a “Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement” in September, pledging that aggression against one country would be treated as an attack on both.
Separately, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, the Saudi interior minister, received a call from his Pakistani counterpart Raza Naqvi, who condemned the blatant attacks targeting the Kingdom and affirmed his country’s solidarity in confronting any threats to the Kingdom’s security and stability, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.
