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Saudi: 60-year-old expats to be counted as 2 employees!

October 9, 2016

Taif, Oct 9: Any expatriate who is 60 years of age or above will be counted as two expat staff in the Nitaqat Saudization program, Al-Madina Arabic newspaper reported on Saturday.Nitaqat

However, expats registered as investors or academicians (professors, associate professors, assistant professors, lecturers) or working in medical profession as doctors will not be considered as two staff even though they are above 60 years of age.

But pharmacists and medical technicians will not be exempted from this decision.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Development has initiated a long-term strategy to equip Saudis to dominate the job market over the period of 25 years which started in 2010.

The unemployment rate has dropped since the implementation of the strategy and in 2015 the number of unemployed Saudis was 647,000.

The plan also included making the private sector an attractive hub for Saudi jobseekers, this led to the increase of Saudis in the private sector who exceeded 1.7 million by 2015.

The year 2015 also marked an increase in the number of employed Saudi women who increased by 21% compared to 2014. Among the domains that women increased their presence in are: Construction, training, social services, downstream industry, insurance, real estate and business, transportation, agriculture and fishing, mining, electricity, water, and gas.

Meanwhile the ministry has supported special needs people through its program “Tawafouq” and Nitaqat Plus.

The ministry has started to implement a wage protection system based on seven stages to ensure that employees get their salaries on time.

Over 7,000 establishments have been included in 2015 in the wage protection system with more to be included in the coming two stages.

To make the Saudization effective no Saudis are included in Nitaqat if their monthly wages are below SR1,500.

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News Network
January 7,2020

Tehran, Jan 7: Iranian state television says 35 people have been killed and 50 others injured in a stampede that erupted at a funeral procession for a general slain in a US airstrike.

The TV says the stampede erupted in Kerman, the hometown of Gen. Qassem Soleimani where the procession was underway on Tuesday.

A procession in Tehran on Monday drew over 1 million people in the Iranian capital, crowding both main thoroughfares and side streets in Tehran.

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News Network
May 5,2020

Abu Dhabi, May 5: The overall real GDP (gross domestic product) of the United Arab Emirates is estimated to have grown by 1.7 percent in 2019, the country’s central bank said in a statement on Monday carried by WAM.

"The UAE hydrocarbon sector is estimated to have exhibited a growth of 3.4 percent in 2019. However, non-oil activities advanced at a softer pace growing by 1.0 percent. As a result, overall real GDP is estimated by FCSA (Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority) to have grown by 1.7 percent in 2019," said the financial regulator in its Annual Report 2019.

"The spread of COVID-19 is expected to impact trade and supply chain movements, coupled with travel restrictions which paves way for high volatility in capital markets and commodity prices. While the outbreak is expected to negatively affect the global and domestic economies, it is still early to gauge the scale of the economic fallout," the report added.

The report noted that the higher hydrocarbon output, as well as growth in non-hydrocarbon economic activity, supported the pace of the country's overall economic growth in 2019.

"Meanwhile, the fading effect of VAT, the appreciating Dirham, lower energy prices and decline in rents pushed inflation in negative territory. However, the employment rate registered a steady rebound. Looking ahead, the economic outlook for 2020 remains uncertain owing to the COVID-19 outbreak," the report elaborated.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Makkah, Jul 31: Organising this year's scaled-down hajj required "double efforts" by Saudi authorities amid the coronavirus pandemic, King Salman said Friday after being discharged from hospital following gall bladder surgery.

Only up to 10,000 people already residing in the kingdom are participating in this year's pilgrimage, compared with 2019's gathering of some 2.5 million from around the world.

"Holding the ritual in the shadow of this pandemic... required reducing the numbers of pilgrims, but it obliged various official agencies to put in double efforts," 84-year-old King Salman said in a speech read out on state television by acting media minister Majid Al-Qasabi.

"The hajj this year was restricted to a very limited number of people from multiple nationalities, ensuring the ritual was completed despite the difficult circumstances," he said.

The speech came on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim festival of sacrifice, a day after the king left hospital following a 10-day stay for surgery to remove his gall bladder.

The hajj, which began on Wednesday, is one of the five pillars of Islam and a must for able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime.

Authorities implemented the "highest health precautions" during the rituals, the king said.

Pilgrims, who were all tested for the virus, are required to wear masks and observe social distancing.

For Friday's "stoning of the devil", the last major ritual of the hajj, Saudi authorities offered the pilgrims pebbles that were sanitised to protect against the pandemic.

In a sign that its strict measures were working, the health ministry reported no coronavirus cases in the holy sites on Wednesday or Thursday.

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