LICENSES 1ST PERFUME MAKER
JEDDAH: The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) licensed its first foreign owned perfume factory Sunday, according to an investor speaking to The Saudi Gazette.
Ali Buabed, a Yemeni national, said he was investing SR6 million in his perfume factory, which he plans to open in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.
Buabed said he had spent some 30 years of his life here and as such favored opening up his business in the port city.
The factory will be located in Jeddah and will be built on 10,000 square meters. Buabed said the factory would produce a range of Western and oriental perfumes under license, as well as cosmetics, incense, lotions and shampoos.
I worked and lived in Jeddah for 30 years. I learnt this trade here in Saudi Arabia and I like doing business here, he told The Saudi Gazette. But before 2001, I could not open a factory here in my name, so I left for Dubai, he explained.
He said his heart was in Jeddah, where he opened up his business some 36 years ago the old Al-Khasqia Souk in Jeddah s downtown area.
As a Yemeni national, Buabed enjoyed the privileges of a Saudi citizen. But that changed in the early 1990s, when the Kingdom issued regulations with provisions obligating Yemeni nationals to apply for residency permits under the auspices of a Saudi sponsor.
He moved to Dubai in 1995 and did not come back until this year, when he heard about the new foreign investment regulations.
Buabed said what kept his eye on Jeddah was its proximity to the Holy City of Makkah and that 90 percent of perfume sales go to Saudi Arabia as compared to a meager 10 percent of sales for other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
Buabed said major perfume brands were head over heals in competition amongst each other over the Saudi market because of the volume of sales and at times resorted to product dumping just to get their foot in the door. What makes the market more attractive for Buabed is the quality of customers, he said.
He said customers could tell the difference between good and bad perfumes, regardless of the label on the bottle.
By Kamal Al-Jeilani
© The Saudi Gazette 2006
