Saudi Arabia has shut down more than 28,000 construction companies as part of a crackdown launched a few years ago to streamline and regulate the market.

The closed firms are among nearly 120,000 units in various sectors in the Gulf Kingdom, including contracting, industry, restaurants, trade, transport, telecommunications, information technology and other activities.

According to the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), most of those firms were forced out of the market after they failed to fulfill requirements set by authorities for their activities.

In the construction sector, nearly 28,890 companies, including contractors and sub-contractors, were shut down after they failed to meet the requirements, especially those related to licensing, GASTAT said in a report.

(Writing by N. Saeed; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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