The accession procedures of Jordan to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) with the Secretary General of WIPO have been completed and came into effect on 9 June 2017. Jordan becomes the 152nd member of the Treaty. Any PCT applications filed on or after the effective date will include the designation of Jordan. It will be possible to file international patent applications through the Jordanian Patent Office.
Egypt’s Investment Minister, Sahar Nasr has announced the Executive Regulations to the Investment Law will be issued by 30 June. The drafting committee will hold a meeting on Sunday to finalise the Regulations. The Investment Law was approved by President Al-Sisi on 1 June.
Bahrain’s Central Bank has announced new regulations to create a regulatory framework to allow start-ups and fintech firms to test and experiment their banking ideas and solutions. It will provide a virtual space for companies to test their technology-based innovative solutions and will be open to existing Central Bank licensees and other local and foreign firms. The testing duration will be nine months and can be extended for up to three months. To be eligible, solutions need to demonstrate their solution is innovative, beneficial to customers, technically tested and will be deployed in the Kingdom after the trial period ends.
Dubai’s Ruler, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has issued a Law to regulate civil organisations in the Emirate. Under the law, the organisations, which will be legally referred to as civil establishments will have to designate a specific financial allocation to cover the cost of their activities. The activities can be in the social, health, educational, cultural, scientific, occupational, creative, art or humanitarian fields. Each civil organisation must have at least 10 founders, including two Emiratis. No activity can be undertaken until the organisation is granted a licence by the Community Development Authority. Registration will include the organisation’s headquarters, geographical range, its purpose, activities and target groups, its member’s names and their nationalities, professions and residences.
Event licencing changes have been approved following an agreement between Abu Dhabi’s Tourism and Culture Authority and the General Command of the UAE Armed Forces. The agreement will establish an e-service for event licences to be obtained. It was signed for the Authority by its Director-General, Saif Saeed Ghobash and by the Head of Administration and Human Resources at the UAE’s Defence Ministry, Major General Salem Saeed Ghafan Al Jabri.
The Chairman of the Insurance Committee at the Alshariqyia Trade and Industry Chamber, Salah Aljabr has confirmed the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency has requested insurance companies send quarterly reports on their activities. This includes showing their commitment in training Saudi nationals. Aljabr added these reports should include details of training policies for managers and employees. Aljabr explained the relevant companies are completing the necessary procedures to complete the full Saudisation of the Vehicle Claims Management Department, Customer Service and Complaint. The deadline to introduce full Saudisation to these sectors is July 2017. Aljabr added the Agency has given companies sufficient time to complete the procedures and confirmed the Saudisation level in these sectors is 100%.
The Abu Dhabi Police have confirmed the amended Federal Traffic Law (Federal Law No 21/1995) has started to be implemented. It started to be implemented on 1 July in line with UAE Federal Ministerial Decision No. 177/2017 and UAE Federal Ministerial Decision No. 178/2017 on traffic control rules and procedures. Amongst the amendments, all drivers and passengers must wear seatbelts. If they don’t they will be fined 400 AED and incur four traffic points.
The Lebanese Cabinet has approved a new draft election law. The law will be voted on by the parliament this week and changes the electoral system from one based around seats reserved for specific religious sects to proportional representation. There have not been elections in Lebanon since 2009 and this reform is being seen as a way of overcoming this deadlock. However, there has also been an agreement that even following this law’s passage there will be no elections until May 2018 at the earliest.
Saudi Arabia’s Labour and Social Development Ministry has announced the deadline for implementing the next stage of the salary protection programme. The Ministry’s official spokesperson, Khalid Aba Alkhail said stages 11 to 16 of the programme targets enterprises employing 11 to 80 employees. The eleventh stage will be implemented in August 2017 and will target enterprises employing 60 to 79 employees. The aim of the programme is to protect salaries and fine enterprises who fail to pay the salaries on time 3000 Riyals. This fine will be multiplied by the number of employees affected.
The Royal Oman Police have announced a new e-visa system is going to be launched. Applicants will be able to apply through their website and will be available to all countries and nationalities. It is going to be linked to relevant ministries, including the Manpower Ministry for work-permits, the Commerce and Industry Ministry to validate commercial register entries and the Civil Service Ministry for Government visas for foreign civil servants. The aim is to have two visa types. One will be for 67 tourist countries and 116 professions. Another list will be for GCC residents.
