Fatima Muhammad

Saudi Gazette

 

JEDDAH — Saudi Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr. Tawfiq Bin Fawzan Al-Rabeah said that the Kingdom is working on implementing high quality control standards based on a new strategy that will be fully implemented by 2020.



The minister was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the fifth international conference of The Middle East Association for Quality on Tuesday here in Jeddah.



The Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) said the minister will work on enhancing the quality, improve work processes and provide better services to end-users.



The public sector added the minister is working on providing distinguished services, which is elaborated through the Injaz prize, which was given to number of public sector bodies.



Regarding moving factories away from urban areas and into industrial cities, Al-Rabeah said that there are now more lands allocated to factories,  three times more than what was previously available.



Moreover, he said factories that do not have any environment risks will remain operating in their locations, while those with violations will be examined by a committee before they can operate normally or be moved to new locations.



Regarding commercial fraud, Al-Rabeah said that they are keen to combat it and added that they have set firm regulations and punishments that will reduce fraud products in the market. He added that they have lately started implementing a price ticket at each product in the market in favor of consumers.



The conference welcomed speakers from around the world and shed light on the experiences of UAE, Pakistan and Turkey in ensuring quality control.



Ayed Al-Amri, president of the Saudi Arabian Quality Control Council at the Western region told the Saudi Gazette that the main challenges that face enhancing quality and development at different establishments in the Kingdom is the “resistance for change” which many employees have.



There is a need for more awareness, training, engagement and encouragement for people involved, for them to be able to welcome change and go with quality control measurements, added Al-Amri.



The private sector, he said, is working on developing quality control management because they want their products to reach international markets.



However on a local bases, private sector will develop its services and products “only when consumers become more aware of detecting low-quality products and services and then resisting to have them.” This, he said, will force traders and business owners to develop their products and enhance their services.



Al-Amri further said the Kingdom has so far passed a good step in enhancing the quality control. Among 22 Arab countries that are registered at the Middle East Quality Association, the Kingdom is among the only 6 countries that have quality control programs and offer quality control awards. The two sectors that they are now working on enhancing are the education and health sectors, he added.