Saudi Arabia approves franchise and government procurement laws

Saudi Arabia's Shura Council on Wednesday has approved the franchise and government procurement laws.

The new franchise law, which comprises 26 articles, aims to govern the relationship between the franchisor and franchisee in light of transparency, the council said in a tweet.

On the other hand, the procurement law, which has 97 articles, also regulates the procedures related to business and procurement, and to prevent abuse of power and personal interests so as to protect public funds as well as to achieve best value for public money.

In October 2017, the Saudi Ministry of Finance published the first draft of a new law on procurement and invited public comment, Argaam reported.

The draft proposes setting up a strategic procurement unit to coordinate purchases of commonly used goods across government bodies, and ensure contracts were filled at competitive prices.