Saudi Arabia has advanced 13 places in property registration and contract enforcement rankings on the Doing Business Report 2020, issued by the World Bank Group.
According to the report, the Kingdom advanced from the 24th to the 19th ranking for property registration, while achieving the first position worldwide for low cost of property registration. It also advanced from the 59th to the 51st ranking for contract enforcement.
The Saudi Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has implemented a series of reforms in property registration, bringing the Kingdom among the top 20 countries in this indicator, and making it the first worldwide for the low cost of registration. The process is free of charge and takes no more than 60 minutes.
The MoJ has also developed an electronic platform for receiving complaints on property issues (www.mulkia.gov.sa), enabled inquiries on land ownership, and facilitated digitization of title deeds.
As for contract enforcement, the ministry has adopted 14 procedures to help create ease and efficiency, which reflected positively on the kingdom’s competitiveness globally.
Some of the most significant changes focused on digitization of procedures, like e-filing of statements of claim, electronic notification of defendants; and set standards for intervals between hearings, expert reports, and issuance of rulings. It has also published final commercial court rulings on its online portal (www.moj.gov.sa).
It is notable that the Doing Business Report 2020 acknowledges Saudi Arabia as the top improver worldwide after the regulatory reforms it has introduced in the past two years. The Kingdom jumped 30 positions to the 62nd ranking based on reforms aimed at economic diversification.
