RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has announced it is switching its official weekend to Fridays and Saturdays, bringing the kingdom’s working week closer in line with other countries in a move long desired by many of the country’s businesses.
Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arab economy, had been the only member of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council to have a Thursday-Friday weekend after Oman shifted to a Friday-Saturday weekend last
month.
The surprise move, which will be applied from this week, was immediately welcomed by Saudi economists and businessmen as giving the private sector an extra day of alignment with international businesses.
“It will increase interface with the rest of the world, now things will move faster,” said Ali Al Ajmi, a former vice president at state oil company Saudi Aramco who now runs a project management business.
Abdulrahman Al Ubaid, a former vice president at Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), the world’s biggest petrochemcial company, and now managing director of Saudi Development and Innovation Group, also welcomed the change.
REUTERS
