Saudi Arabia sets exceptions to contracts with companies that do not have a regional headquarters in the Kingdom
The official newspaper, Umm Al-Qura, revealed the controls of government agencies in Saudi Arabia contracting with companies that do not have a regional headquarters in the Kingdom.
It is not permissible for government agencies when executing their work and securing their purchases to contract with companies that do not have a regional headquarters in the Kingdom or any related party except in accordance with its provisions.
The controls contained in the decision specified the cases in which government agencies will be allowed to contract with companies that do not have a regional headquarters in the Kingdom, provided that business and purchases whose estimated cost does not exceed one million riyals or that are carried out outside the Kingdom are excluded from the application of these controls.
The Ministry of Investment, in coordination with the Ministry and the General Authority for Foreign Trade, based on standards and controls to be agreed upon, prepares a list of companies that do not have a regional headquarters in the Kingdom. The list is updated periodically or as often as needed.
And Article Six stated: “Without prejudice to what is required by the statutory provisions applied by government agencies when carrying out their work and securing their purchases, the controls do not prevent companies that do not have a regional headquarters in the Kingdom or any related party from submitting offers for any public competition offered by any of these agencies, Provided that these entities do not accept the submissions of these companies or related parties, except in one of two cases. The related party is the best offer after the overall evaluation from a technical point of view, and is financially less (25%) or more than the value of the second best offer.
Article 7 of the controls stipulates that government agencies may not invite companies that do not have a regional headquarters in the Kingdom or any related party to participate in the limited competitions they offer, except in one of two cases: There is no more than one qualified competitor other than companies that are not It has a regional headquarters in the Kingdom to carry out business, secure the required purchases, or the existence of an emergency that can only be dealt with by inviting companies that do not have a regional headquarters in the Kingdom.
The articles oblige government agencies that contract with any company that does not have a regional headquarters in the Kingdom or a related party – in accordance with the regulations – to prepare a report that includes the reasons that prompted them to contract, and to provide the General Auditing Bureau and the Authority for Spending Efficiency and Government Projects with a copy of it, within a period not exceeding 30 days. Business day from the date of signing the contract.
