THE volume of the shadow economy in the Kingdom grew from SR364 billion in 2008 to SR549 billion in 2014, accounting for one fifth of the Kingdom's Gross National Product (GNP) according to World Bank reports. Every year, according to the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, our economy loses SR300 billion in tasattur (the illegal process in which foreigners operate businesses in the name of Saudis in return for a share in the profit). The Ministry of Labor's reports show that around one million small businesses are engaged in tasattur in one way or another. In fact, tasattur has been noticed in 80 percent of business sectors, as Ahmad Al-Jubair of the Saudi Economic Society said. The United Nations report showed that tasattur accounts for 17 percent of the Kingdom's GNP. Expatriate workers control over 70 percent of the unregulated retail sector, according to the CEO of Al-Othaim Markets Company. Some statistics show that there are around 1.2 million expatriate workers who are in violation of residency regulations. The foreign investment laws have contributed to increasing tasattur activities, according to Yousif Aba Al-Khail, a financial controller at the Ministry of Finance. Economic analyst Abdulrahman Al-Qahtani says that unofficial money exchange agents in poor neighborhoods transfer annual amounts of money that equal legal transactions. Undoubtedly, these are horrifying figures. These practices are like cancer eating away at our economy. It is high time the concerned authorities took action to stop the spread of this cancer. Year after year, the volume of overseas money transfers is increasing and so is the number of expatriate workers who violate residency regulations. Tasattur can have a negative impact on food security and national security, let alone public health. The private sector is the hub of tasattur activities because it is unregulated and there are no set work hours. Therefore, it is difficult for Saudis to compete with expatriate workers. Ending tasattur activities will create job opportunities for Saudis and allow Saudis to start their own businesses. The ministries of Labor and Social Development and Commerce and Investment should work together to combat tasattur. They should put in place strong regulations to monitor the market and reduce the control of expatriate workers. One of the suggested solutions to this problem is encouraging citizens to report tasattur activities to the Consumer Protection Association (CPA). We need to set work hours for the private sector as well. We should remember that the worst form of corruption is the one that prevents us from ending corruption.
