Saudi student honored by UK university

A Saudi student has been awarded a Certificate of Excellence by the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom for her research into chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Afaf Awad Al-Harthi, a scholarship student from the medical faculty at Taif University, was included by the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission in London on its honor panel.
Al-Harthi said recently that her research was aimed at determining the MicroRNAs, or biomarkers, in the cancer cells of lymphatic tissue, to predict the growth and development of the disease, from which doctors could make a diagnosis and take appropriate action.
After conducting several experiments, Al-Harthi was able to determine the relationship between these indicators and disease progression in infected people.
Simon Wagner, a professor and Al-Harthi's research supervisor, said that the lymphoid tissue environment encourages the growth and proliferation of cancer cells, and resistance to chemotherapy. This group of MicroRNAs would be useful clinically in terms of early diagnosis and treatment, he said.
Wagner said that Al-Harthi used many technologies, including a Nanosight technique to measure the number and size of the vesicles outside the cells in patients and healthy volunteers. She found a higher prevalence of these particles in patients.
She also developed a Polymerase Chain Reaction technique for specific types of MicroRNAs and tested it on a group of patients and healthy volunteers, said Wagner.

Conference ponders ways to fight cybercrime

Labor Minister Mufrej Al-Haqabani recently inaugurated the first international conference to combat computer-related crimes on behalf of Custodian of Two Holy Mosques King Salman.
He commended Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University for organizing the conference through the College of Computer and Information Sciences.

“The conference is timely and necessary. The era of significant evolution of information has come so that there’s a need to be updated on combating computer-related crimes,” Al-Haqabani said.
He noted that information technology serves humanity but there are those who use it for their own selfish interests like violating the privacy of an individual and information networks.
He added that addressing “this delicate subject through this conference confirms the interest of the Kingdom, universities and academic institutions to solve the problem.”

“Computer-related crimes threaten the security of the state and its institutions, the development of scientific and technical solutions, and the enactment of deterrent laws and legislation,” he said.
He expressed confidence that the conference could recommend practical solutions and contribute to the dissemination of scientific security awareness about such crimes and ways to combat them.

He also expressed hope that the conference could serve as a platform for universities and the judiciary to come up with a fruitful collaboration to advance further knowledge on information security.
He thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for their support in promoting social initiatives as well as scientific security.

Issa bin Turki, president of the scientific committee of the conference, said the event highlighted the need to raise awareness of the seriousness of computer-related crimes.
“There’s a need to review penalties imposed on computer-related violations and submit studies and modern solutions to solve these,” he said.

عاصفة التجارة الإلكترونية في المملكة العربية السعودية

عمليات البيع والشراء عبر الإنترنت والتي تسمى التجارة الإلكترونية أو EC. هي نقل البيانات أو الأموال عبر شبكة الإنترنت إلكترونية. هذه المعاملات تتم بين المستهلك لقطاع الأعمال، المستهلك إلى المستهلك، والأعمال التجارية لرجال الأعمال أو الأعمال التجارية إلى المستهلك.

وتستخدم تطبيقات مختلفة مثل التبادل الإلكتروني للبيانات (EDI)، بروتوكول نقل الملفات (FTP)، والبريد الإلكتروني، كتالوجات على شبكة الإنترنت، والفاكس، وعربات التسوق وخدمات ويب في إجراء التجارة الإلكترونية. عموما، يتم استخدام هذه الخدمة بين قطاعات الأعمال التجارية وبعض القطاعات استخدام البريد الإلكتروني والفاكس للترويج لمنتجاتها للمستهلكين والجهات التجارية الأخرى. الآن الشركات ترسل أيضا إلى النشرات الإخبارية الإلكترونية للمشتركين.

التجارة الإلكترونية لديها الكثير من المزايا منها توفرها على مدار الساعة، وسرعة الوصول بسرعة جدا ويمكن أن يتم اختيار السلع والخدمات من قبل مستهلكين عالمين. وعلى الرغم من ذلك فشراء السلع على الانترنت يحوي سلبيات الطفيفة كذلك. الزبون هو ليس قادرا ماديا على رؤية أو لمس منتج معين قبل شرائه. أيضا، في بعض الحالات العملاء يجب أن ينتظروا وقت لحين شحن المنتج.

يجب على أصحاب الأعمال ضمان أمن وفعالية وخصوصية للتجارة الإلكترونية ، ومصادقة المعاملات التجارية، فيجب أن يتم التحكم في الوصول إلى خصوصية صفحات الويب للمستخدمين. وينبغي أيضا أن تنفذ التقنيات الأمنية مثل طبقة مآخذ التوصيل الآمن (SSL) وتشفير الاتصالات من أجل ضمان الأمن العام.

وقد أطلق على حركة التجارة الإلكترونية في المملكة العربية السعودية: عاصفة التجارة الإلكترونية. وفقا لأحدث الأبحاث، ومن المتوقع أن تصل لتضخم 13.2 مليار $ في عام 2015 من حصة السوق في المملكة العربية السعودية للصناعة والتجارة الإلكترونية وتوقعت أن الأرباح تاـي من 25% من مستخدمي الإنترنت السعوديين الذين ينشطون بالفعل في ه التجارة الإلكترونية.

ويشير بحث أجري مؤخرا أن أي بلد تصل نسبة عمليات الشراء الإلكترونية فيه 8.5٪ فيعد من الأسواق المتقدمة في سوق التجزئة على الانترنت. وقد حققت ألمانيا نسبة 11.6٪، في حين بلغت أستراليا نسبة 8.7٪.

في الآونة الأخيرة، المملكة العربية السعودية تقترب جدا لهذا الهدف. ومن المتوقع أن تصل إلى 8٪ في عام 2015. متقدمة على فرنسا (6.2٪)، واليابان (6،7) والولايات المتحدة (7.3). لغة التعاملات في التجارة الإلكترونية هي اللغة العربية في المملكة العربية السعودية. و 40٪ من المستهلكين عبر الإنترنت من منطقة مكة المكرمة في حين 57٪ من الرياض. تكشف الدراسة أيضا أن 80٪ من العملاء عبر الإنترنت يفضلون استخدام الشراء نقدا عند التسليم (COD). معظم عمليات الشراء تتم على فئة الالكترونيات من بين الفئات الرئيسية الأخرى، للمحلات التجارية الرائدة في مجالات الخدمات المالية، ثم تليها الأزياء تليها تذاكر الطيران.

وقد أظهر أحدث تحليل فيزا أن المملكة العربية السعودية قد تصدرت المنطقة MENA في أعلى معدل نمو التجارة الإلكترونية في عام 2014. وتظهر دراسة شبكة المدفوعات الإلكترونية أن المملكة شهدت 41٪ في نمو التجارة الإلكترونية التقديرية الإجمالية مقارنة مع 2012 و 2013. وشهد القطاع المنزلي نسبة نمو بلغت 65٪ في حين سجلت التجارة الإلكترونية عبر الحدود نسبة تصل إلى معدل نمو 34٪ على التوالي
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Saudis spend SR800m on safari tourism

Over the past five years, safari tourism has registered the highest level of investment in the tourism sector overall, thanks to increased attention being paid to this favorite Saudi and international pastime.

Chairman of the Al-Sunaidi Company for Supply Trips Abdulrahman Al-Sunaidi said that the sector has experienced a lot of growth in recent times, receiving approximately SR2 billion in financial investment each year.
He added that Saudis collectively spent up to SR800 million on these kinds of safari trips in any one year, pointing out that the peak period for these tours runs from November to April in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.
Al-Sunaidi noted that the majority of this kind of tourism across the Gulf depends on the Saudi market for supplies, further bolstering the national economy.


Source ;- http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/830761

Council of chambers opposes two-day offs in private sector

The labor market committee at the Council for Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry has protested against the Labor Ministry’s amendment of the Labor Law. 

The ministry amended Articles 98 and 104 of the Labor Law, which determines the weekend days and the daily work hours for employees. The Shoura Council is expected to put the issue on the agenda within the next few weeks.

According to the amendment, an employee can’t work for more than nine hours per day if he/she depends on daily work, and it should be 45 hours a week. The decision also includes decreasing the working hours for Muslims to not more than seven hours per day or 35 hours per week.

Article 104 states that workers need to have two paid offs per week and that one of these days must be a Friday. The employer can replace Sunday with another weekday for some of the workers after notifying the labor office. The employees should be allowed to perform their religious duties. 

The chairman of the labor market committee at the Council for Saudi Chambers, Mansour Al-Shatri, said the committee does not oppose positive discrimination in favor of Saudi workers against other workers to encourage them to enter the labor market. “However, the committee wants to ensure that this change only affects Saudis just like other Gulf states which prefer their citizens and which doesn’t contradict agreements signed with labor-sending countries,” he said.

Source :- http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/829831

Tourism to generate 1.7m jobs by 2020 in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH: Job opportunities in the tourism sector of the Kingdom are expected to reach 1.7 million by 2020, according to the Tourism Information and Research Center (MAS), the statistical division of the the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTNH).

“This total figure includes the number of direct and indirect jobs in the labor market in the tourism sector and other sectors associated and benefiting from tourism in the Kingdom,” the latest report released by MAS said.
The statistical report further said that the number of jobs in the tourism accommodation sector in 2015 will go up to 113,048 and this number is expected to increase to 129,526 jobs by 2017 due to the execution of a number of hotel mega-projects across the Kingdom especially in the two Holy Cities of Makkah and Madinah and in the capital city Riyadh.
MAS statistics further indicated that the number of direct job opportunities in the tourism sector until the end of 2014 reached over 795,000 and the number is estimated to rise to over 840,000 by the end of 2015, while the number of indirect jobs by the end of 2014 reached over 397,000, and is expected to exceed 420,000 by the end of 2015.
The total of direct and indirect jobs was 1,192,285 by the end of 2014, and this number is predicted to rise to 1,262,153 by the end of 2015.
Moreover, according to the report the tourism accommodation sector in the Kingdom is witnessing rapid growth in investments, as the number of tourism accommodation facilities (hotels, furnished apartments, hotel villas, hotel apartments, tourism inns, roadside hotels and resorts), reached 3,710 by the end of 2014, with 1,222 hotels and 2,488 furnished apartments.
Keeping with this trend, the number of hotel rooms in the Kingdom has reached 299,500 and furnished apartments 87,050.
Notably, tourism is currently the second most important economic sector in the Kingdom, where Saudization has reached 28 percent and the estimated number of people working in the tourism sector by 2025 is predicted to reach 317,352 compared to 94,249 in 2014.
According to industry experts, the tourism sector has potential to create concrete change in the national economy and emerge as the future alternative to crude oil.

New SME body will generate jobs in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH: The newly formed Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises approved by the Cabinet on Monday will help create jobs for young Saudis and boost the economy, according to experts.

One of the most important functions of the new body would be to facilitate funding for these small and medium enterprises (SME), they were quoted as saying by a local publication on Tuesday.

Saleh Al-Hassini, chairman of the Shoura Council’s economy and energy committee, said that the authority would remove several obstacles facing SMEs, which is crucial for the country’s economic growth.

Al-Hassini said that the authority would ensure that SMEs become more competitive and innovative, and attract investment. He praised the government for setting up this and other similar bodies and urged the Council of Saudi Chambers to support it.

Mansoor bin Abdullah Al-Shathri, a member of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and head of the board of trustees of the Riyadh Center for SME Development, said that the authority would create employment opportunities for Saudis.

Al-Shathri said that expatriates made up 86 percent of the SME sector in the country. This goes against trends in other countries, and is preventing citizens from investing in the sector, he said.

He said that the authority would help grow the sector, which makes up over 99 percent of commercial firms in the country. It would oversee the sector and fulfill the goals of the government’s economic plans, he said.

The Cabinet, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on Monday, set up the body, which will have financial and administrative independence, and be overseen by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The authority would regulate and grow the small and medium enterprise sector in the Kingdom, so that it makes a substantial contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product, and create jobs, the Cabinet said in a statement.

The authority would also ensure financial support for the sector through the Saudi Industrial Development Fund, the statement said.