Saudi Arabia released a draft of an e-commerce law this past weekend, putting it on the path to become one of the first countries in the Middle East to ratify e-commerce laws.
Last fall, a source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the KSA's Ministry of Commerce and Industry was making moves to begin regulation of their online industry. At that time, e-commerce specialist Mazen Al-Darab told Asharq Al-Awsat that the law could take up to 3 years to be in place, after its first proposal.
In June 2014, the KSA, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt were the biggest e-commerce markets in the region, according to Aramex. As of December 2014, 3.9 million Saudi Arabians were making online transactions, according to Payfort.
Some think that this proposal will cause other GCC countries to begin formalizing e-commerce.
The law is open for comments until February 20. Check out the following infographic by Payfort to understand more.
