By Abdullah Al-Jeaithen
Tasattur is the illegal understanding whereby Saudis permit foreigners to manage businesses in their names in return for a portion of the profits. It can have grave negative social and economic effects. It is the reason why many Saudis cannot find jobs in vital sectors such as contracting, transport, maintenance and sales. Saudis cannot compete with expatriate workers over jobs in the above sectors because the latter control these sectors.
Expatriate workers usually collaborate with one another to ensure that Saudis who venture into these fields end up losing business. For example, expatriate workers can work up to 18 hours a day because their ultimate goal is to raise money quickly and transfer it to their families abroad while Saudis cannot do that because they have their wives, children and families to look after.
Expatriate workers who engage in tasattur do not transfer money through banks but use different methods so that they do not get caught. They are the ones who control businesses and the market, and they are the ones who drive Saudis out of the market. As a result, Saudis become unemployed. We should remember that unemployment is dangerous and can have a negative impact on the national economy.
The huge amount of money transfers done by expatriate workers can exercise pressure on the Saudi balance of payments, weaken the money turnaround inside the national economy and have a greater negative effect on the Kingdom’s credit rating.
Saudis who engage in tasattur are usually lazy and do not want to be active in society. They prefer to sit at home and get easy money at the end of the month. The more Saudis engage in tasattur, the greater the number of lazy Saudis. This means that we will have a large number of Saudis who do not have any business and practical experience.
Tasattur increases the control of expatriate workers over the market and drives Saudis to compete with one another over public sector jobs. Some Saudis will have no choice but to accept a low paid job at the private sector.
The authorities should impose stricter penalties on tasattur and carry out extensive and intensive inspection visits to curb this menace. Because of tasattur, the government cannot collect zakat because some tasattur-based businesses tend to conceal information about their sources of income.
We welcome all expatriate workers who comply with our laws. But anyone who violates them, be it a Saudi or an expatriate, should be punished.
