Public tenders in Saudi Arabia: platforms, thresholds and rules

At a glance

Law: نظام المنافسات والمشتريات الحكومية
Oversight: وزارة المالية
Central portal: Etimad (اعتماد)

Thresholds

Direct purchase allowed up to (2019 law, Art. 32), priority to local SMEs	SAR 100,000
Direct purchase allowed up to (new 2026 law, from its entry into force)	SAR 1,000,000
Limited tender allowed up to (2019 law, Art. 30), at least five bidders invited	SAR 500,000
Regional headquarters (RHQ) rule does not apply to contracts up to	SAR 1,000,000

Law and buyers

Saudi Arabia is not an EU member; public procurement follows the Government Tenders and Procurement Law issued by Royal Decree No. M/128 of 2019 and its implementing regulations from the Ministry of Finance. A new law of 101 articles, issued by Royal Decree No. M/76 of 27/2/1448H, was published in the Umm Al-Qura gazette on 4 September 2026 and takes effect 120 days after publication, in early January 2027, together with new implementing regulations; until then the 2019 law applies. Ministries, agencies, municipalities and other government entities buy for themselves, while framework agreements for common items are concluded centrally. The Local Content and Government Procurement Authority (LCGPA) runs local content policy and the Expenditure Efficiency and Government Projects Authority (EXPRO) works on spending efficiency.[1][3][5][8]

Where tenders are published

Under the law, government tenders and procurements are published through the Portal, which is Etimad (etimad.sa), run under the Ministry of Finance. Tender documents are made available and bids are submitted electronically and encrypted through the portal. To bid you register your establishment on Etimad, which in practice requires a Saudi commercial registration or licence; the law only allows contracting with licensed persons. The Ministry of Finance may charge fees for portal services, and many tenders charge a price for the tender documents. Some state-owned companies such as Aramco or SABIC are not government agencies under this law and run their own supplier registration and portals.[1][9]

Procedures and thresholds

The 2019 law provides for the public tender as the main method, plus the limited tender, the two-stage tender for complex purchases, direct purchase, framework agreements, the electronic reverse auction and a design competition. A limited tender is allowed, among other cases, when the estimated value is up to SAR 500,000, with at least five invited bidders and priority for local SMEs. Direct purchase is allowed up to SAR 100,000; the new 2026 law raises this to SAR 1 million. Pre-qualification can be used before a tender. Since 1 January 2024, government entities generally may not contract with foreign companies that have no regional headquarters (RHQ) in the Kingdom, or their related parties, for contracts above SAR 1 million, except under the published exceptions.[1][7][10]

Documents and language

Bidders usually need a valid commercial registration or licence in the relevant field, a contractor classification certificate where the work requires it, a zakat or tax certificate, a GOSI social insurance certificate, Chamber of Commerce membership, a MISA investment licence for foreign-owned companies and proof of meeting the Saudization (Nitaqat) quota; the exact list is set by the implementing regulations and the tender. Each bid must include an initial guarantee of 1% to 2% of the bid value, and the winner provides a final guarantee of 5% of the contract value. Contracts and documents are drafted in Arabic; another language may be added, but Arabic governs interpretation. Local content requirements in the tender, such as the mandatory list of national products, must be met or the bid may be excluded.[1][6][8]

Deadlines, award and challenges

The minimum bid period is set by the implementing regulations and stated in each tender on Etimad. Bids remain valid for 90 days under the 2019 law and 90 working days under the new law. Under the 2019 law, the agency observes a suspension (standstill) period of five to ten working days after announcing the award, during which bidders can appeal; under the new law this becomes three to ten working days. An appeal goes first to the government agency within five working days for pre-award decisions or within the standstill for the award. If it is rejected, the bidder can appeal within three days to the Ministry of Finance committee, lodging a guarantee of half the initial guarantee. Local content mechanisms affect evaluation: a 10% price preference for national products and local SMEs, and a 40% local content weight in the financial evaluation of high-value contracts.[1][3][6]

How to win a tender in Saudi Arabia

Saudi government tenders run on Etimad under the Government Tenders and Procurement Law; a new law replaces it in early January 2027, so check which version a tender cites. When technical and financial offers are submitted separately, only technical offers are opened first, and financial offers of technically rejected bidders are returned unopened. The review committee then picks the best offer under the criteria in the tender documents and may negotiate if the price is well above market. Local content weighs heavily: products on the LCGPA mandatory list must be national, national products and local SMEs get a price preference, and in larger contracts local content can carry substantial weight in the financial evaluation. Raise questions through the inquiry function in Etimad within the period the documents set. A bid cannot be rejected as too low unless it is at least 25% below the estimate or market price and you have been asked to explain it. Agencies publish an annual procurement plan, which helps you anticipate. After the award a standstill of five to ten working days applies, during which you can appeal to the agency and then the Ministry of Finance committee.[1][3][6][9]

Check which law the tender cites, as rules change in January 2027.
Treat the technical envelope as a pass test; meet every listed requirement exactly.
Prepare your LCGPA local content baseline and confirm mandatory national products.
Ask questions through Etimad inquiries before the deadline in the documents.
Read the agency's annual procurement plan to spot upcoming tenders early.
Appeal within the standstill if you believe the award is wrong.

Clarification round: Inquiries (istifsarat) via Etimad

How TenderRender helps you in Saudi Arabia

TenderRender does the work behind each step above. Your team checks and refines.

1
Research the buyer
Brings together the buyer's earlier awards, policies and contracts, so your bid fits this buyer's situation in Saudi Arabia.
2
Ask questions
Finds unclear points and risks in the documents and drafts questions about them for the clarification round: Inquiries (istifsarat) via Etimad.
3
Write per criterion
Drafts a first version per award criterion, in the language of the tender, with citations to your own documents.
4
Review
Scores your bid per award criterion the way an evaluator would, with concrete improvements.
5
Fill in forms
Fills in the declarations, price schedules, questionnaires and Excel annexes from your own data and earlier bids, with a source per answer.
6
Submit
Builds a checklist of everything you need to submit on Etimad (اعتماد) and prepares the documents ready to sign.

Tender search covers the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany; in Saudi Arabia you upload the documents from Etimad (اعتماد) and TenderRender works with them the same way.

Teams writing or reviewing with TenderRender won 49% of their completed tenders. How this was calculated

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Tips for bidders

Check the regional headquarters rule first: for contracts above SAR 1 million, a foreign company without an RHQ in the Kingdom is generally excluded unless an exception applies. Set up a Saudi legal entity with a MISA licence and commercial registration early, because Etimad registration and most tenders depend on it. Read the local content section of every tender: products on the LCGPA mandatory list must be national, and your local content baseline and target can carry real weight in the score. Prepare Arabic versions of key documents. Keep an eye on the implementing regulations of the new 2026 law, as thresholds, deadlines and committee procedures change when it takes effect.[3][6][7][8]

Platforms in Saudi Arabia

This country does not publish on TED, so there are no shares. These are the platforms from our market map, public ones first.

Etimad
Saudi government tenders run on Etimad; the portal sits behind a login, so register an establishment account before viewing and bidding.
Website

PublicCommercial

Tender search for this country

NextBid
Riyadh-based tender intelligence: alerts for Etimad, Forsah, Tanafos and NUPCO with competitor analysis, plus market reports and proposal-writing services.
Tenders Alerts
Independent platform that tracks Saudi government tenders from Etimad and Forsah, with alerts, BOQ downloads, award and competitor data and AI scoring.

Bid writing tools from this country

Mustashar
Arabic-first AI tool that turns an Etimad tender specification booklet into a complete Arabic technical proposal.
Technical Proposal
AI platform that analyses Saudi Etimad and Forsah tender booklets, drafts technical proposals, runs multi-agent reviews and exports to Word or PDF.

Bid consultancies

NextBid
Riyadh-based tender intelligence: alerts for Etimad, Forsah, Tanafos and NUPCO with competitor analysis, plus market reports and proposal-writing services.

All players on the market map

Frequently asked questions

Where are public tenders in Saudi Arabia published?

On Etimad (etimad.sa), the government procurement portal under the Ministry of Finance. Large state-owned companies such as Aramco use their own supplier systems.[9]

Do I need to register to bid?

Yes. You register your establishment on Etimad, which in practice requires a Saudi commercial registration or licence, and the law only allows contracting with licensed persons.[1][9]

What are the thresholds?

Under the 2019 law, a limited tender is allowed up to SAR 500,000 and direct purchase up to SAR 100,000. The new 2026 law raises the direct purchase limit to SAR 1 million when it takes effect in early January 2027.[1][5][10]

Can foreign companies bid?

They can, but the law requires agencies to check whether more than one qualified local party is available before contracting a foreign party, and since 2024 foreign companies without a regional headquarters in the Kingdom are generally excluded from contracts above SAR 1 million unless an exception applies.[1][7]

In which language must I bid?

Arabic. Another language may be used alongside it, but the Arabic text governs interpretation and execution of the contract.[1]

How much time do I have to submit a bid?

The minimum period is set by the implementing regulations and each tender states its deadline on Etimad. Bids must stay valid for 90 days (90 working days under the new law).[1][3][9]

What is the local content preference?

Under the LCGPA regulations, national products and local SMEs get a 10% price preference, products on the mandatory list must be national, and high-value contracts weigh local content at 40% of the financial evaluation.[6][8]