Brokerage Law Prompts Competitiveness in Saudi Real Estate Sector

 Real Estate Brokerage Law benefits the establishments, real estate brokerage, brokers, real estate auction owners, and property and facilities managers. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Real Estate Brokerage Law benefits the establishments, real estate brokerage, brokers, real estate auction owners, and property and facilities managers. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Brokerage Law Prompts Competitiveness in Saudi Real Estate Sector

 Real Estate Brokerage Law benefits the establishments, real estate brokerage, brokers, real estate auction owners, and property and facilities managers. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Real Estate Brokerage Law benefits the establishments, real estate brokerage, brokers, real estate auction owners, and property and facilities managers. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

CEO of Saudi Arabia's Real Estate General Authority (REGA) Abdallah al-Hammad said the adoption of the brokerage law will help create an attractive competitive environment in the sector according to governance that raises the quality of services, overcomes obstacles and preserves the rights of brokers.

He stressed that the sector will help achieve sustainable development, ensure good quality in its dealings and services, and support real estate establishments.

In late June, the Saudi cabinet approved the Real Estate Brokerage Law to regulate the services and reduce disputes.

The law helps govern transactions and ensures the brokerage contracts are reliable.

It covers all real estate activities and services and is exercised exclusively by licensed and qualified parties.

The regulation benefits the establishments, real estate brokerage, brokers, real estate auction owners, and property and facilities managers.

Hammad stressed that the law is a part of the legislation developed to maintain real estate rights.

It promotes the quality of services and reduces disputes, he remarked, adding that under the law, mediation is required by licensees.

The new law helps achieve Vision 2030, which aims to increase the Kingdom's global real estate indicators classification.

Hammad made the remarks during an event organized by the Real Estate Commission of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday.

The event was attended by businessmen and women who discussed the newly approved law.

Hammad underlined the role played by the Kingdom’s chambers to achieve the law’s objectives, namely supporting real estate establishments in various regions, raising the efficiency of human capital and the awareness of the target audience in the real estate sector, and striving to enable the sector to provide quality real estate services in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

All these goals aim to achieve the growth, sustainability and development of the real estate sector.



Libya Announces First Bidding Round for Oil Exploration in 17 Years

A view shows El Feel oil field near Murzuq, Libya, July 6, 2017. (Reuters)
A view shows El Feel oil field near Murzuq, Libya, July 6, 2017. (Reuters)
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Libya Announces First Bidding Round for Oil Exploration in 17 Years

A view shows El Feel oil field near Murzuq, Libya, July 6, 2017. (Reuters)
A view shows El Feel oil field near Murzuq, Libya, July 6, 2017. (Reuters)

Libya plans its first bidding round for oil exploration in more than 17 years, Masoud Suleman, acting Chairman of the National Oil Corporation (NOC), announced in a televised address on Monday.

Libya is Africa's second-largest oil producer and a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Foreign investors have been wary of putting money into Libya, which has been in a state of chaos since the overthrow of Moammar al-Gaddafi in 2011. Disputes between armed rival factions over oil revenues have often led to oilfields shutdowns.

In August, Libya lost more than half of its oil production, about 700,000 bpd, and exports were halted at several ports as a standoff between rival political factions over the central bank threatened to end four years of relative peace.

The shutdowns lasted for over a month with production gradually resuming from early October.

That did not stop major oil companies Eni, OMV, BP, and Repsol from resuming exploration activities in Libya last year after halting them for a decade. Italy's Eni had already signed in 2023 an $8 billion gas production deal with Libya's state-oil National Oil Corporation (NOC).

In January, Libya's acting oil minister, Khalifa Abdulsadek, told Reuters the country needed between $3 billion and $4 billion to reach output of 1.6 million bpd.

The country's current crude production has reached over 1.4 million bpd, about 200,000 bpd short of its pre-civil war high, according to NOC.

Libya is exempt from OPEC+ agreements to limit output.