Controls will be eased along the Saudi-UAE border for Saudi and UAE nationals in about ten days, a Saudi official said.
The UAE's passport authorities are in the final stages of putting measures in place that will allow Saudi and UAE nationals to cross the border using identity cards instead of passports, said General Salem Al Belaihid, director of Saudi Arabia's passports bureau.
The shift is being made according to the terms of an agreement signed last year between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, General Al Belaihid said.
General Al Belaihid told reporters the application of the new system would start as soon as the UAE completes a study of the new arrangements.
Saudi Arabia has already completed its part of the agreement and is waiting for the UAE to start enforcing the new system, he said.
In a statement to Gulf News, Saeed Bin Hamdan Naqabi, UAE Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, welcomed the move.
The new system will bring the two countries closer, the ambassador said.
Saudi and UAE citizens already enjoy centuries-old family relations. Their strong bilateral ties will further be bolstered.
Cross-border traffic is on the rise, and the continuous exchange of people and goods is further evidence of their close relationship, the ambassador.
More than 1,500 trucks and 1,300 passenger cars pass between the two countries each day through the Al Batha crossing point on the Saudi side of the border and the Al Ghewaifat on the UAE side, officials said.
