Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Commerce and Industry has announced plans to grant licences to 35 new facilities for providing real estate valuation services in the kingdom.

The ministry move comes in co-ordination with the Saudi Authority for Accredited Valuers (Taqeem), stated Dr Fahd Abou Hemad, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for Rules and Regulations Affairs and also the chairman of the Register Committee of Accredited Valuers.

Taqeem said the granting of licences will give a much-needed boost to the profession of real estate valuation and help elevate it to rank of the most-sought-after occupations in the kingdom.

"The licences were granted only after all these facilities met the registration conditions and necessary requirements. We are now working on the issuance of the next set of licences," stated Dr Fahd.

The ministry aims to have 80 such real estate valuation facilites by the end of the year, he added.-TradeArabia News Service