TVTC, MYNM sign deal to train 400 young Saudis

April 11, 2012

ECO_TVTC

Riyadh, April 11: As part of an ambitious public-partnership plan to reduce dependence on foreign workers, the state-owned Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) and Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors (MYNM) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) yesterday to train 400 young Saudis for jobs in automobile sector. On completion of the training, the MYNM, which has a nationwide network of sales and after-sales facilities for Hyundai cars, will provide employment to the Saudi graduates also.

The agreement was signed in the presence of TVTC Gov. Ali Bin Nasser Al-Ghafis who said that the Kingdom was committed to develop the public-private partnership initiative to provide technology training and tools for young Saudi boys and girls. Al-Ghafis said: "This was one of the major MoUs signed by the TVTC with private organizations, which will go a long way in providing necessary skills to Saudis to work in automobile sector."

He added that the Saudi trainees under this program will receive a monthly stipend of SR1,500 during the training period besides other benefits including medical insurance. "The training program will have components of Korean car technology with focus on a range of skills, which will help the trainees after two years of their employment to open their own workshops," said Al-Ghafis.

The MoU was signed by Hamad Al-Aqla, TVTC deputy governor, in a brief ceremony organized at the headquarters of the TVTC in the Saudi capital. Hazm Sami Jamjoom, NYNM managing director, inked the agreement representing Naghi Motors. Top TVTC officials and MYNM executives attended the event. After the signing ceremony, Fahad M. Al-Otaibi, TVTC media relations manager, conducted reporters on a tour of the exhibition hall to watch the models of new TVTC colleges.

Al-Aqla said: "This program with Naghi Motors will help to provide intensive training to Saudis and eventually the company will hire the graduates." Those joining the program will be given extensive lessons and practical training to become world-class auto mechanics, diesel mechanics, spare parts salesmen, auto technicians, painters and motor electricians."

He added that there was a greater scope for employment in automotive sector of the Kingdom, which is poised to sustain a positive growth outlook over a five-year period. In fact, the sales value of the automobile sector during the five-year period is expected to reach over SR80.6 billion, precisely by 2014. "The robust growth forecast is underpinned by the positive performance of the commercial vehicle segment, which is expected to remain strong over the next five years," said an executive of NYNM/Hyundai.

Asked about the major policies and the future plans of the TVTC, Al-Ghafis said the TVTC had endorsed similar agreements with a few major companies in different sectors. "The plan is to train workers for jobs that are in demand in Saudi Arabia," he said, adding that the new initiative launched by the TVTC is intended to help better align with technical college curriculums with the demands of local companies.

"Some similar partnerships between TVTC and private companies already exist," said Al-Ghafis. The TVTC is working hard to address the training needs of young Saudi boys and girls. "A number of studies, a number of discussions and several projects currently under way to address the skills' gap among Saudis, and how that's related to unemployment and how they can be addressed," he said while giving an overview of the TVTC's programs.

"The commitments from private partners are really commendable," said the TVTC chief, adding that the TVTC is helping to prepare skilled workers for the labor market by designing appropriate training programs and developing partnerships with the private sector. He added that the plan is under way to build 40 technology institutes for girls and 50 for boys in near future. The TVTC projects include the establishment of institutes for training, especially in strategically significant fields.

In fact, the total enrolment of Saudi boys and girls at the existing TVTC colleges exceeds 100,000 now. According to a TVTC report obtained by Arab News yesterday, the TVTC also selects qualified trainers to teach specialist training courses aimed at developing the skills. "The private sector has become a genuine partner of the TVTC in training technical workers," the report added.

It is also seeking international and domestic expertise to operate its training and professional institutes, said the report. The TVTC, which is a premier Saudi government organization entrusted with the task to train Saudi youngsters for jobs in different sectors, currently has 35 technical colleges for boys and 14 technical institutes for girls. It also owns and operates three institutes for military vocational training and 69 industrial institutes across the Kingdom.

On the other hand, the Naghi Motors is a well known name in automotive business, which is one of the best distributors of Hyundai cars in the region mainly because of its excellent sales service, customer handling and innovative support service programs. Naghi Motors is the first company to introduce leasing program for Hyundai cars and offer flexible credit terms. In a short span of time, the Naghi Motors has a strong network of sub-dealers and branches across the Kingdom.

It has its branches in Makkah, Madinah, Jazan, Tabuk, Taif, Khamis Mushayit, Abha, and Bisha, aside from several outlets in Jeddah. "Our ability to provide quality products and personalized after sales service has been instrumental in our rapid and successful growth," said Naghi Motors in a press statement here Tuesday.

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News Network
March 31,2020

Mar 30: the UAE Cabinet approved a series of new initiatives, foremost among which was the automatic extension of residence permits expiring from March 1.

The residence visas would be extended for a renewable period of three months without any fees to ease the economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis on residents, official news agency WAM reported.

The Cabinet has also waived the administrative fines associated with infractions on the services provided by the Federal Authority of Identity and Citizenship, starting April 1 and lasting for a renewable period of three months.

The initiatives also entail granting a temporary license to use digital solutions for remotely notarising and completing judicial transactions.

Government services expiring from March 1 will also be extended from April 1 for a renewable period of three months. The decision applies to all federal government services, including documents, permits, licenses and commercial registers.

The UAE has introduced a slew of initiatives to control the spread of the Covid-19 virus, including the online renewal of driving licences and vehicle’s registration cards.

The country’s telecom regulator, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), also issued a directive that no mobile service with expired ID documents will be disconnected or suspended in the UAE.

The UAE has reported a total of 611 Covid-19 infections and five related deaths in the country.

A national sterilisation programme is underway that will continue until Saturday April 4, concluding on the morning of Sunday, April 5.

Carried out daily from 8pm until 6am the following morning, the programme will include the disinfection of private and public facilities.

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Agencies
January 4,2020

Dubai, Jan 4: Three UAE airlines have made it to lists of the safest carriers in 2020, reinforcing the value these companies provide passengers in the increasingly competitive aviation scene.

Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways and Dubai's Emirates are in the list of the top 20 safest airlines, while Sharjah-based Air Arabia is in the list of the top 10 low-cost carriers, safety and product rating website AirlineRatings.com reported on Thursday.

It named Qantas as the safest airline for 2020 out of the 405 carriers it monitors.

The top 20, in order, are Qantas, Air New Zealand, EVA Air, Etihad Airways, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Alaska Airlines, Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Virgin Australia, Hawaiian Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airlines, TAP Portugal, SAS, Royal Jordanian, Swiss, Finnair, Lufthansa, Aer Lingus and KLM.

"These airlines are clear standouts in the airline industry and are at the forefront of safety," said AirlineRatings.com editor-in-chief Geoffrey Thomas.

"For instance, Australia's Qantas has been recognised by the British Advertising Standards Association in a test case in 2008 as the world's most experienced airline."

"Qantas has been the lead airline in virtually every major operational safety advancement over the past 60 years and has not had a fatality in the pure-jet era," said Thomas.

AirlineRatings.com editors also identified their top 10 safest low-cost airlines; they are, in alphabetical order, Air Arabia, Flybe, Frontier, HK Express, IndiGo, Jetblue, Volaris, Vueling, Westjet and Wizz.

Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StrategicAero Research in London, says that it isn't a surprise that UAE carriers are on those lists.

"UAE airlines almost always feature in the top rankings for safety because they value the equipment that they fly their passengers on each and every day," he told Khaleej Times on Thursday.

"All airlines do; but for the UAE, where airlines have expanded rapidly in the last couple of decades, it's an amazing feat that they rank so highly while inducting so many new aeroplanes."

There's little benefit to adding luxurious cabins if maintenance, security and safety protocols as well as routine engineering schedules are not adhered to, he stressed.

"And with the UAE itself sporting MRO activities as well as through companies like Strata, which supply components to Airbus and Boeing directly, airlines here have harnessed that tech-change to ensure that their fleets have the highest redundancy and safety checks at every possible chance," Ahmad added. "That translates into passenger confidence - and we can see the brand and loyalty strength across Emirates, flydubai, Air Arabia and Etihad; it's no surprise that each year, they all fly more and more passengers across their network."

In making its selections, AirlineRatings.com editors and its industry advisors take into account numerous critical factors that include: Audits from aviation's governing bodies and lead associations, government audits, airline's crash and serious incident record, fleet age, financial position and pilot training and culture.

"All airlines have incidents every day and many are aircraft or engine manufacture issues instead of airline operational problems. And it is the way the flight crew handles incidents that determines a good airline from an unsafe one. So just lumping all incidents together is very misleading," said Thomas.

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News Network
July 1,2020

Riyadh, Jul 1: Saudis braced Wednesday for a tripling in value added tax, another unpopular austerity measure after the twin shocks of coronavirus and an oil price slump triggered the kingdom's worst economic decline in decades.

Retailers in the country reported a sharp uptick in sales this week of everything from gold and electronics to cars and building materials, as shoppers sought to stock up before VAT is raised to 15 percent.

The hike could stir public resentment as it weighs on household incomes, pushing up inflation and depressing consumer spending as the kingdom emerges from a three-month coronavirus lockdown.

"Cuts, cuts, cuts everywhere," a Saudi teacher in Riyadh told AFP, bemoaning vanishing subsidies as salaries remain stagnant.

"Air conditioner, television, electronic items," he said, rattling off a list of items he bought last week ahead of the VAT hike.

"I can't afford these things from Wednesday."

With its vast oil wealth funding the Arab world's biggest economy, the kingdom had for decades been able to fund massive spending with no taxes at all.

It only introduced VAT in 2018, as part of a push to reduce its dependence on crude revenues.

Then, seeking to shore up state finances battered by sliding oil prices and the coronavirus crisis, it announced in May that it would triple VAT and halt a cost-of-living monthly allowance to citizens.

The austerity push underscores how Saudi Arabia's once-lavish spending is becoming a thing of the past, with the erosion of the welfare system leaving a mostly young population to cope with reduced incomes and a lifestyle downgrade.

That could pile strain on a decades-old social contract whereby citizens were given generous subsidies and handouts in exchange for loyalty to the absolute monarchy.

The rising cost of living may prompt many to ask why state funds are being lavished on multi-billion-dollar projects and overseas assets, including the proposed purchase of English football club Newcastle United.

Shopping malls in the kingdom have drawn large crowds in recent days as retailers offered "pre-VAT sales" and discounts before the hike kicks in.

A gold shop in Riyadh told AFP it saw a 70 percent jump in sales in recent weeks, while a car dealership saw them tick up by 15 percent.

Once the new rate is in place, businesses are predicting depressed sales of everything from cars to cosmetics and home appliances.

Capital Economics forecast inflation will jump up to six percent year-on-year in July, from 1.1 percent in May, as a result.

"The government ended the country's lockdown (in June) and there are signs that economic activity has started to recover," Capital Economics said in a report.

"Nonetheless, we expect the recovery to be slow-going as fiscal austerity measures bite."

The kingdom also risks losing its edge against other Gulf states, including its principal ally the United Arab Emirates, which introduced VAT at the same time but has so far refrained from raising it beyond five percent.

"Saudi Arabia is taking massive risks with contractionary fiscal policies," said Tarek Fadlallah, chief executive officer of the Middle East unit of Nomura Asset Management.

But the kingdom has few choices as oil revenue declines.

Its finances have taken another blow as authorities massively scaled back this year's hajj pilgrimage, from 2.5 million pilgrims last year to around a thousand already inside the country, and suspended the lesser umrah because of coronavirus.

Together the rites rake in some $12 billion annually.

The International Monetary Fund warned the kingdom's GDP will shrink by 6.8 percent this year -- its worst performance since the 1980s oil glut.

The austerity drive would boost state coffers by 100 billion riyals ($26.6 billion), according to state media.

But the measures are unlikely to plug the kingdom's huge budget deficit.

The Saudi Jadwa Investment group forecasts the shortfall will rise to a record $112 billion this year.

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