A1SaudiArabia.com

RIYADH – Plans to modernise Saudi Arabias legal system will take years due to a chronic shortage of qualified judges and lawyers.

The Kingdom said this month it would set up commercial and appeal courts in the main cities as part of a $2 billion reform to modernise courts and train judges. The move coincides with a crackdown on trading violations on the Arabs biggest bourse by slapping heavy fines on major banks or withdrawing licenses for financial firms.

The United States last month also removed Saudi Arabia from a list of alleged intellectual property violators, citing a better law enforcement environment.

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RIYADH: US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia James Smith and Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Department of Commerce Holly Vineyard have presented awards to the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CSCCI) and five local companies for having sold and promoted American products in the Kingdom.

The awards were given on the occasion of the grand opening Sunday night of the 400-seat Outback Steak House at the Localizer Mall along Tahliah Street.

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JEDDAH – As part of its initiative to strengthen bilateral ties between Dubai and the US, a high profile delegation of Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry recently visited Los Angeles and Las Vegas to explore new prospects for Dubais business community in the US and to enhance cooperation with the major American chambers of commerce.

Headed by Eng Hamad Buamim, director general, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), the delegation met a number of top officials of the US Department of Commerce and major American chambers including Stephen Recobs and Vidya Kori of the US Department of Commerce; Joseph Czyzyjk, vice-chairman and Gary Toebben, president and CEO of LA Chamber of Commerce; Lori Lofstrom, chairman, and Randy Gordon, president and CEO of Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce; and Kara Kelly, president and CEO of Las Vegas

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JEDDAH: The five-day Saudi Building & Interiors Exhibition (SBIE), which opened at the Jeddah Center for Forums & Events last night, has a record participation of more than 500 international and national exhibitors. The response has been so overwhelming that two tents had to be erected outside the hall for accommodating the exhibitors, according to the organizers, Al-Harithy Company for Exhibitions.

This is an impressive show that exhibits all aspects of the building and interiors industry and surely our community will benefit a lot, especially at a time when the buoyant economy is driving the construction industry to boom, Jeddahs Deputy Mayor Ibrahim Kutubkhanah told reporters after opening the SBIE. The 18th comprehensive showcase for the industry, which runs alongside a high-profile seminar, has the Construction Products Holding Company (CPC) as the main sponsor. Egypt, Turkey, the United States and China, have put up major pavilions, while individual participants have come from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, Malaysia, Jordan, Iran, Kuwait, Taiwan, Thailand, Lebanon, Kuwait and the UAE.

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