Welcoming participants, JCCI Secretary-General Mohammed A. Al-Shareef said the event had assumed importance in further expanding the Saudi-US commercial relations, as it had come after Crown Prince Abdullah's recent visit to the United States.

Franchising is growing by leaps and bounds in this part of the world and young Saudis interested in self-employment or desirous of running small and medium enterprises could take advantage of such franchise offers.

"Here is one such good opportunity to our budding and established businessmen," he said referring to the franchise offers from the American firms.

"This chamber is looking forward to many such events, and franchising could be one of the most effective ways of contributing toward Saudization," he said later while talking to Arab News.

Douglas J. Wallace, commercial attaché at the US Department of Commerce, US Foreign Commercial Service, at the American Consulate in Jeddah and the American Embassy in Amman, who opened the symposium, said his department had carefully selected the 11 franchises after studying the local requirements and interest of Saudi businessmen.

"The cultures of both the United States and Saudi Arabia are different, but their tastes are quite similar," Wallace said and hoped that the franchises on offer will be of interest to the local business community and environment.

The volume of Saudi-US bilateral trade had exceeded $25 billion and was growing at the rate of 10 percent per annum, he said and was hopeful that with this event and many more to come the commercial relations would further expand.

Maher M. Siblini, commercial specialist at the American Embassy in Riyadh, providing an overview on franchising, said: "Franchising is getting bigger here, although lots have failed and lots have won."

"In fact, the US companies have the largest share of the Kingdom's franchising market," Siblini said.

The fast-food sector especially holds vast potential for franchises, he said. "Anybody who can come up with a new concept can have a niche in the market."

Aside from fast-food, the market is rapidly expanding for a host of other areas including training, real estate and fitness centers.

He pointed out that pending the franchise law that would be framed in due course, the Ministry of Commerce's regulations held good in the franchising business.

"To make franchises work successfully, both franchisors and franchisees need to pay attention to market research, business plan, business proposal, investment, technical know-how and training support, raw materials and contractual agreement," he said.

Above all, location is the secret of success of any franchise, he said and emphasized that both parties must stick to the contractual agreement if they have to make a success of any franchise.

He also hinted that many US companies were waiting on the fence pending the Kingdom's entry into the World Trade Organization.

Speaking on behalf of franchisors, Abdulaziz Al-Kridis said in his presentation that Jani-King was the world's largest commercial cleaning franchisor with over 10,500 franchise owners.

"Each franchise owner operates independently and has a full stake in the success of his company," said Al-Kridis, president of the Dubai-based Jani-King Middle East.

Thomas L. Webber, consultant for franchise and training development at RE/MAX Arabia (Sokook Arabia), said RE/MAX was the world's largest real estate company that was ready to change the landscape of the real estate market here and elsewhere.

The company is based in Jeddah, and Bougary family is the master franchisee for the RE/MAX International brand in the GCC, Lebanon and throughout the Middle East.

UPS Country Business Development Manager Wilfried Hugebaert spoke about the "world's largest" package delivery company and a global provider of specialized transportation and logistics services.

Source:MENA Financial Network