RIYADH — The United Arab Emirates has recently offered the Kingdom its expertise in establishing Consumers Cooperative Societies. The offer was made during a Saudi delegation's visit to the UAE. The delegation was led by by Saleh Al-Khaleel, Chairman of the Consumers Cooperation. Emiratis offered their counterparts in the Kingdom training on work mechanism and establishment of the cooperative societies which has made broad strides. The Saudi committee is now compiling a report including a number of recommendations on the establishment of consumer cooperative societies which they will submit to the concerned authorities. The delegation also got acquainted with experiences in the given field in Kuwait and Egypt. Saleh Al-Khaleel said the Emirate's experience in the field has a high value in terms of turnover. He pointed out that there were 18 cooperative societies spread all over the UAE with 95 branches. Seven more societies are under the initial stages, he said. The total capital of these societies is 900 million UAE dirham and the volume of its sales estimated at 6.6 billion dirham. He said the Saudi delegation visited most of the societies in the UAE and was briefed on their operational system. These societies, he said, are distinguished by selling more than 301 commercial brands at lower prices than those in the market. Al-Khaleel said one of the obstacles hampering the progress of these societies is that the shares are limited only to the citizens. The Kingdom is in the process of amending the regulations of the cooperative societies especially the consumer societies aiming at supplying the neighborhoods with essential commodities at reasonable prices. The delegation visited a number of Arab countries which have experience in the field. — SG
