One of the most important features of the economic reform of His Majesty King Abdulaziz, may Allah rest his soul in peace was encouraging the commercial movement and the organization of economic activity at both the internal and external levels. As a result of this reform, the Commercial Council was established in 1345 AH followed by consequent additions to the regulation of this Council and the establishment of the Chamber of Commerce in Jeddah in 1365 AH corresponding to 1945 AD. This was the first Chamber of Commerce in the Kingdom. The special regulation to establish it was published in Safar on 15th, 1365 AH corresponding to January 18th, 1946 AD.
Jeddah is considered one of the most important seaports in Saudi Arabia due to its proximity to Mecca and the importance of Jeddah location on the Red Sea, which is connected by the Suez Canal. There were connections with the traders of Mecca to establish a Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Mecca which was established in 1366 AH. After that, a union between the Chambers of Mecca and Jeddah was established. In 1369 AH a Royal Decree was issued to establish the Union of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in the Kingdom. Then, another Royal Decree no. 140806 was issued to establish the Eastern Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It started its work in Shawal 3rd, 1372 AH and in Ramadan 23rd, 1372 AH the Shura (Consultative) Council issued a resolution no. 79 including the addition of new articles defining the activities of the Chambers of Commerce and organizing their terms of reference and fields of their works.
Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry was established in accordance with the resolution of the Council of Ministers no. (239) dated 10 Jamadi II, 1381 AH. Then the establishment of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry continued in a number of cities in the kingdom. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Medina was established in 1387 AH, in Taif in 1398 AH, in Al Qassim in 1398 AH, in Al-Ahsa in 1401 AH, in Hail in 1402 AH, in Al-Jouf in 11405 AH, in Qurayyat in 1408 AD, Bisha Chamber in 1429 AH.
The current effective regulation of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia was issued in accordance to the Royal Decree no M/6 dated 3/4/1400 AH. It was issued based on a study conducted by the Ministry of Commerce to prepare the draft of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry regulation, in line with the commercial and industrial renaissance witnessed by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which requires that the above mentioned Chambers shall play an effective role in achieving the development plans objectives in the kingdom. After that, they found out that the Chambers of Commerce and Industry regulation amended by the Royal Decree no. 2829 dated 13/8/1368 AH does not accord with the mentioned objectives. The previous legal and historic data indicated that the age of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in the kingdom exceeds seventy years which gave it great experience and strong support in the fields of organization management of the commercial and industrial activities in the Kingdom.
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