If you discount summer, school, and religious holidays one is only really left with 7-8 months of practical "doing business" time in Saudi Arabia. So it is important to check the Internet and, on your BIG annual wall calendar, block out the non (or less) productive times.
As always there are exceptions. The biggest of these is that during the heat of summer, and during Eid and Ramadan breaks, if the people you want to see are in town then they will more often than not be able to accomodate you during late evening/night, from 2100 to even 0100 the next morning. This is especially true during the fasting month of Ramadan. During Ramadan Saudis do not eat or drink from sunup to sunset so even if they are around it would be unwise of us to expect them to be as productive as ourselves who are not undergoing such physical and mental rigors.
If your contact cannot see you in Saudi it is usually either because he is away, or is on vacation and in town but wants to spend time with his family during the day (Saudis are very family oriented), or is simply tired because he is fasting.
So plan your time well or be prepared to meet during the night.
Finally, more business will get done over a meal in a social environement than in an office so factor this into the above.
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