RIYADH — A number of light vehicle manufacturers have committed to apply Saudi standards for fuel efficiency in new vehicles, the first of its kind in the Middle East and Arab region, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Monday.
Memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to this effect were signed here on Monday between the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) and light vehicle manufacturing companies.
Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman, assistant minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources for Petroleum Affairs, who is also chairman of Saudi Program for Energy Efficiency, said there is a high demand for vehicles in the Kingdom given its growing population and its topography.
The existing road network and the ones under construction cover an area of more than 80,000 kilometers and the number of vehicles is about 12,000,000, he said.
Prince Abdulaziz said a team of experts from the ministries of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Commerce and Industry and Transport as well as SASO and a number of government bodies worked for two years along with international advisory agencies to set up programs to improve fuel efficiency in the imported light or heavy vehicles.
Some 78 companies representing 99.95% of vehicle sales in the Kingdom were approved to apply the fuel efficiency standard for light vehicles.
SASO Governor Dr. Saad Al-Gussabi said SASO adopts international standards as far as possible since the Saudi Arabia's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2005.
SASO last year uncovered a total of 1,025 imported cars that were not according to the Kingdom's standards and specifications.
