National Center for Archives and Records

The National Center for Archives and Records (NCAR) is a national archive responsible for preserving government documents and records. It oversees and technically supervises their preservation in government entities within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. NCAR was established by a royal order on May 29, 1989, and it is administratively linked to the chief of the Royal Court. 

NCAR is overseen by a board headed by the chief of the Royal Court, with the membership of several entities, including the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, the Bureau of Experts, the Institute of Public Administration, and the King Fahd National Library. The board is responsible for establishing policies, overseeing their implementation, and approving regulations and procedures as necessary to accomplish its objectives.  

The Kingdom's permanent records are relocated to NCAR once their prescribed retention period in government agencies concludes. Among the invaluable records safeguarded by NCAR are those dated before September 10, 1953.    

NCAR also preserves and archives agreements, treaties, documents related to state properties, and all regulations and instructions.

NCAR employs internationally recognized scientific techniques to restore government documents exposed to environmental elements, striving to safeguard them from harm and streamline their accessibility when required. Simultaneously, NCAR is developing a unified digital program to expedite access to government documents.   

Additionally, NCAR is in the process of developing the necessary implementing regulations for the Records and Archives Law., as well as regulations for administrative, financial, and specialized documents, including their retention periods. NCAR monitors their implementation and is preparing a unified classification guide for documents and archives, along with a comprehensive coding guide for government agencies. NCAR is responsible for the collection, indexing, classification, coding, preservation, maintenance, and regulating the circulation of documents and archives. NCAR directly oversees the disposal of archives and documents deemed eligible for disposal in compliance with the applicable regulations.

NCAR is responsible for classifying government agencies according to internationally-recognized sectors in accordance with United Nations agreements.

It supervises all document centers in government agencies with regard to implementing the Records and Archives Law and training staff members. Through its website, NCAR provides continuous access to all the laws and regulations issued in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and offers its services to institutions and individuals.  

NCAR engages with regional and international organizations specializing in documents and archives, mainly the International Council on Archives, to foster collaboration in the field of documents and archives with specialized international agencies. NCAR participates in seminars, conferences, and specialized scientific workshops, and conducts research in this field on a global scale. It also exchanges information with national documents and archive centers worldwide. NCAR works on developing methods and techniques that align with the digital advancements. In 2019, it held a conference on the role of Arab archives in supporting the Arab knowledge society amidst current challenges and future aspirations. In 2021, it conducted a workshop on archives and artificial intelligence technologies.

On April 6, 2022, the Council of Ministers approved the establishment of an administrative documentation unit for government agencies, named the Administrative Documentation Department, at NCAR. The department is tasked with historically monitoring the government agency's establishment, including its laws, regulations, plans, programs, and projects, as well as its administrative and procedural organizations. It functions as a historical reference for documenting the agency's development and the stages it has undergone since its establishment.