Foreigners required in KSA ‘for 40 more years’

May 9, 2014

Foreigners_in_KSA

Jeddah, May 9: A prominent labor expert has suggested that the Kingdom will require expatriate manpower in various sectors over the next 40 years.

Abdullah Dahlan, former Saudi representative to the International Labor Organization (ILO) and chairman of the board of trustees of the University of Business and Technology, also reiterated the need for more Saudi men and women to match their specialties with labor market needs.

There are currently 2.5 million people out of work in the Kingdom, of which 44 percent are university graduates.

“While unemployment figures are on the decline according to a recent study conducted by the university, the relatively high unemployment rate among university graduates is due to the fact that more than two-thirds of these graduates are holders of theoretical academic degrees that offer no vocational skills, while the other third are science graduates,” he said.

Another reason for lack of employability, said Dahlan, is unsatisfactory education levels.

“A low-quality education results in less qualifications, thus requiring extensive training for requalification into the labor market,” he said.

Dahlan prefers not to blame authorities. He recommends instead focusing on educational reforms that will help enhance teaching levels, particularly with the support of Education Minister Prince Khaled Al-Faisal in revamping the education system.

“Women represent a significant component of the workforce and must have their rights met, especially since they account for the highest unemployment rates,” he said.

“There are three variables that must be altered to improve work environment and make employment more attractive, which include restructuring syllabi without placing special emphasis on religion and Arabic and introducing courses that are essential for today’s work market, such as English language courses.”

Dahlan also suggested introducing courses that teach simple business concepts in order to build students’ hands-on experience.

University disciplines should be similarly restructured to meet market demands, he said.

More than seven million of the 20 million Saudis are under the age of 15, while seven million are unemployable, according to a statistical study conducted in 2012.

Hussein Al-Alawy, the university’s director, said that his institution has sought to provide quality vocational education since it was founded a few years ago.

The founders are currently working on establishing a college of medicine and a university hospital over the next two years, he said, confirming that land has been purchased for the construction of buildings for these majors.

He also said that the Kingdom’s Higher Education minister has issued approval to introduce the insurance specialty from the beginning of the next academic year.

“New students will soon be able to apply for this major, which is one of the most sought after disciplines in the Saudi labor market today,” he said.

The current Saudi insurance market is estimated at more than SR21 billion and includes 34 licensed companies.

The market is expected to be worth SR34 billion by 2015.

Al-Alawy also said that the Kingdom, represented by the Ministry of Higher Education, seeks to equip highly qualified Saudi cadres in disciplines relevant to the labor market.

The university will open admissions for majors such as civil engineering at the College of Engineering to meet market needs, he said.

“The decision of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to give young Saudi men and women scholarships has allowed and supported many students to complete their undergraduate degrees,” he said. “Our ‘education for employment’ logo is a motto that is consistent with the modern-day era.”

The university will celebrate the graduation of 250 students on Thursday during a ceremony to be held in Jeddah in the presence of Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed.

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News Network
July 20,2020

Abu Dhabi, Jul 20: The United Arab Emirates launched its first-ever interplanetary Hope Probe mission to Mars from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre at 01:58 a.m. (local time) on Monday.

"United Arab Emirates (UAE) launches its first mission to Mars, the 'Hope Mars Mission' from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center," UAE Space Agency said on its Twitter page.

The spacecraft is expected to reach Mars orbit in about 200 days from now and then begin its mission to study the Red Planet's atmosphere, WAM news agency reported.

Once it enters Mars' orbit in the first quarter of 2021, the Hope probe will mark the UAE's 50th anniversary.

The probe will travel 493 million kilometres into space in a journey that will take seven months, and will orbit the Red Planet for one full Martian year of 687 days to provide the first truly global picture of the Martian atmosphere.

The Hope probe will be the first to study the Martian climate throughout daily and seasonal cycles. It will observe the weather phenomena on Mars such as the massive famous dust storms that have been known to engulf the Red Planet, as compared to the short and localised dust storms on Earth.

It will also examine the interaction between the upper and lower layers of the Martian atmosphere and causes of the Red Planet's surface corrosion, as well as study why Mars is losing its upper atmosphere.

Exploring connections between today's Martian weather and the ancient climate of the Red Planet will give deeper insights into the past and future of Earth as well as the potential of life on Mars and other distant planets.

The Hope Mars Mission is considered as the biggest strategic and scientific national initiative announced by UAE's President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in 2014. The UAE will be the first Arab nation to embark on a space mission to the Red Planet in a journey that contributes to the international science community as a service to human knowledge.

The interplanetary mission is the first by any West Asian, Arab or Muslim majority country.

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News Network
May 11,2020

May 11: Saudi Arabia will triple its value-added tax rate and suspend a cost of living allowance for state workers, it said on Monday, seeking to shield finances hit by low oil prices and a slump in demand for its lifeline export worsened by the new coronavirus.

Historic oil output cuts agreed by Riyadh and other major producers have given only limited support to prices after they sank on oversupply caused by a war for petroleum market share between the kingdom and its fellow oil titan Russia.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, is also being hit hard by measures to fight the new coronavirus, which are likely to curb the pace and scale of economic reforms launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

"The cost of living allowance will be suspended as of June 1, and the value added tax will be increased to 15% from 5% as of July 1," Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said in a statement reported by the state news agency. "These measures are painful but necessary to maintain financial and economic stability over the medium to long term...and to overcome the unprecedented coronavirus crisis with the least damage possible."

The austerity measures come after the kingdom posted a $9 billion budget deficit in the first quarter.

The minister said non-oil revenues were affected by the suspension and decline in economic activity, while spending had risen due to unplanned strains on the healthcare sector and the initiatives taken to support the economy.

"All these challenges have cut state revenues, pressured public finances to a level that is hard to deal with going forward without affecting the overall economy in the medium to long term, which requires more spending cuts and measures to support non-oil revenues stability," he added.

The government has cancelled and put on hold some operating and capital expenditures for some government agencies, and cut allocations for some reform initiatives and projects worth a total 100 billion riyals ($26.6 billion), the statement said.

Central bank foreign reserves fell in March at their fastest rate in at least 20 years and to their lowest since 2011, while oil revenues in the first three months of the year fell 24% from a year earlier to $34 billion, pulling total revenues down 22%.

"The reforms are positive from a fiscal side as greater adjustment is essential. However, the tripling of VAT is unlikely to help that much in 2020 revenue wise with the expected fall in consumption," said Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.

She said she kept unchanged her deficit forecast of 16.3% of GDP for this year, which already factors in a greater than previously announced spending cut.

About 1.5 million Saudis are employed in the government sector, according to official figures released in December.

In 2018, Saudi Arabia's King Salman ordered a monthly payment of 1,000 riyals ($267) to every state employee to compensate them for the rising living costs after the government hiked domestic gas prices and introduced value-added tax.

DIFFICULT TIMES

A committee has been formed to study all financial benefits paid to public sector employees and contractors, and will submit recommendations within 30 days, the statement said.

In late 2015, when oil prices fell from record highs, the kingdom slashed lavish bonuses, overtime payments and other benefits once considered routine perks in the public sector.

In a country without elections and with political legitimacy resting partly on distribution of oil revenue, the ability of citizens to adapt to such reforms is crucial for stability.

"Tripling the VAT will test the limits of the balance between revenues and consumption as the economy dives into a deep recession. The move will impact consumption and could also lower the expected revenues," said John Sfakianakis, a Gulf expert at the University of Cambridge.

"These are pro-austerity and pro-revenue moves rather than pro-growth ones," he said.

Hasnain Malik, head of equity strategy at Tellimer, said the VAT rise could bring about $24-$26.5 billion in additional non-oil fiscal revenue. The rise would hit consumer spending further but was a needed step towards fiscal sustainability, he said.

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Agencies
June 22,2020

Riyadh, Jun 22: The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs (MMRA) in Saudi Arabia has announced the continuation of the ban on providing Shisha (hubble-bubble), and the closure of children's play areas in restaurants as a precautionary measure for protecting the health of citizens and residents from the novel coronavirus COVID-19 infection.

The new stage, in which the Kingdom is beginning to coexist with the virus, focuses on the concept of "social distancing" that has emerged since the start of the coronavirus crisis throughout the world,

It stipulates leaving at least 2 meters between one person and the other in public places to prevent the transmission of infection, in addition to covering the mouth and nose by wearing a facemask.

It also specifies complying with the preventive protocols in workplaces, stores, shops, mosques and tourist attractions, with human gatherings not to exceed 50 people, as a maximum.

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