New System for Companies in Saudi Arabia Competes with Int’l Business Environments

A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (AP)
A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (AP)
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New System for Companies in Saudi Arabia Competes with Int’l Business Environments

A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (AP)
A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (AP)

The Shura Council approved on Monday a new system for companies, aimed at developing the trade environment in the Kingdom and moving it to a better stage that competes with other international business environments.

Fahd Al-Takhifi, council member and Chairman of the Trade and Investment Committee, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the new system provides an incubating and stimulating regulatory environment for initiative and investment, boosts the value of companies, develops their activities and contributes to supporting the national economy.

All this will reflect positively on the country’s leadership position and its competitive advantages.

Takhifi indicated that the current project, in its entirety, sought to achieve several goals in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

Moreover, it supports the growth of the entrepreneurship sector and SMEs and ensures the availability of fair practices for the principles of corporate governance and institutional work.

According to Takhifi, the system includes basic principles and provisions with the aim of reducing disputes between stakeholders, ensuring fair treatment of all partners and shareholders, enhancing the rights of customers, facilitating attracting capital, providing long-term funding sources at the lowest costs, and developing the regular environment for non-profit work.

The importance of the system lies in being one of the main tributaries to achieving the objectives of the Kingdom's vision, said Takhifi, explaining that it does so through increasing the participation of the private sector and boosting the value and development of companies to the Kingdom's GDP.



Starbucks Workers Expand Strike in US Cities Including New York

Starbucks workers hold signs as they picket during a strike in front of a Starbucks to demand collective bargaining agreements in Burbank, California on December 20, 2024. (AFP)
Starbucks workers hold signs as they picket during a strike in front of a Starbucks to demand collective bargaining agreements in Burbank, California on December 20, 2024. (AFP)
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Starbucks Workers Expand Strike in US Cities Including New York

Starbucks workers hold signs as they picket during a strike in front of a Starbucks to demand collective bargaining agreements in Burbank, California on December 20, 2024. (AFP)
Starbucks workers hold signs as they picket during a strike in front of a Starbucks to demand collective bargaining agreements in Burbank, California on December 20, 2024. (AFP)

Starbucks workers have expanded their strike to four more US cities, including New York, the union representing over 10,000 baristas said late on Saturday.

The five-day strike, which began on Friday and initially closed Starbucks cafes in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle, has added New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia and St. Louis, Workers United said in a statement. It did not say where the New Jersey walkout was occurring.

Starbucks did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.

Talks between the coffee chain and the union hit an impasse with unresolved issues over wages, staffing and schedules, leading to the strike.

The union is striking in 10 cities, also including Columbus, Denver and Pittsburgh, during the busy holiday season that may impact the company's Christmas sales.

Workers United warned on Friday that the strike could reach "hundreds of stores" by Tuesday, Christmas Eve.

Starbucks began negotiations with the union in April. It said this month it had conducted more than eight bargaining sessions, during which 30 agreements had been reached.

The company operates more than 11,000 stores in the United States, employing about 200,000 workers.