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Saudi: 8-year expat cap plan under review

May 26, 2014

expatsJeddah, May 26: The Labor Ministry announced Sunday that it has finalized seven new regulations, including a law that allows expats to transfer their sponsorship onto new employers without the permission of their current sponsors.

Ahmed Al-Humaidan, deputy minister for labor policies, said a working team has been appointed to conduct more studies on the draft law that restricts the stay of expats in the Kingdom in order to propose alternatives and other solutions by the first quarter of the coming Hijri year.

Many companies and employers had objected to the move restricting expats’ period of stay in the Kingdom to a maximum of eight years and discouraging them from bringing their families, saying it would negatively affect their businesses.

The new transfer of service law, which has been published on the ministry’s website (http://www.ma3an.gov.sa), insisted that it is allowed on the basis of certain conditions and should be endorsed by the labor minister.

The law said such transfers are allowed if the worker had a labor dispute with the sponsor and the latter failed to attend the two labor court sessions without any legitimate reason. In addition, judicial authorities should have proof that the sponsor deliberately tried to delay the case and that the worker should not have caused the delay.

An expat can also transfer his sponsor if the previous sponsor did not pay his salary or delayed its payment for three months continuously, provided the worker did not cause the delay.

“The condition stands if the employer was absent and could not carry out his duties because of travel, imprisonment or death, while failing to appoint an agent to take care of his firms and workers,” the law said, explaining other conditions.

Ahmed Al-Humaidan, deputy minister for labor policies, said the ministry has completed discussions on 24 labor regulations with the participation of officials, lawyers and consultants.

“We have presented the draft laws on our website to initiate discussions and allow businessmen, ordinary citizens and expat to give their opinions,” he said, adding that a number of workshops have been conducted for this purpose.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

Muscat, Jan 11: Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said has died, Aljazeera reported citing state television on Friday.

Qaboos was 79-year-old and was ill for a long time. He has served as the ruler of Oman since 1970 when he ousted his father in a bloodless coup.

Qaboos had no children and has not publicly named his successor.

Sultan Qaboos travelled to Belgium for a week in December for what was described then as "medical checks." He returned to Oman but speculations of his deteriorating health were rife.

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News Network
April 27,2020

Riyadh, Apr 27: The government of Saudi Arabia has signed a SR995 million (approx. Dh972m) contract with China to provide Covid-19 tests for nine million people in the Kingdom.

The Saudi Press Agency, SPA, reported that the decision came "as a result of a phone call made today (Sunday) between the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Chinese President Xi Jinping."

The contract includes providing necessary equipment and supplies, making available of 500 Chinese specialists and technicians who are specialised in performing tests, establishing six large regional laboratories throughout the Kingdom; including a mobile laboratory with a capacity of performing 10,000 tests per day. Saudi cadres will also be trained to conduct daily tests and comprehensive field tests, under the new agreement

The contract was co-signed by the National Unified Procurement Company and Chinese company Huo-yan Laboratories by Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, Advisor at the Royal Court, on behalf of the Government of Saudi Arabia, and Chinese Ambassador to the Kingdom Chen Weiqing, as a representative of the Chinese Government.

The contract is one of the largest contracts that will provide diagnostic tests for the novel Coronavirus.

Tests were also purchased from several other companies from the United States, Switzerland and South Korea, bringing the number of available tests to 14.5 million, covering around 40 percent of Saudi Arabia's population, SPA added.

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News Network
May 18,2020

Abu Dhabi, May 18: Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has recorded a special message for Indian expats in the UAE as the country fights the coronavirus pandemic.

Khan - one of the biggest stars of Bollywood for decades - enjoys a large fan following in the Gulf, which is why Abu Dhabi roped in the actor to record a special video message for expats, urging them to cooperate with authorities in the capital and the country as they carry out sanitisation and testing programmes.

In the video, tweeted by the Abu Dhabi Media Office on Sunday night, the superstar appeals to Indians in Abu Dhabi to become heroes by staying home (stepping out for essential work/errands only), following precautionary measures and simply 'do the right thing' by getting tested if they have any Covid-19-related symptoms.

Khan, who has shot his recent super hit films (Race 3) in the capital, assured expats that Abu Dhabi authorities will not leave the community in these challenging times as it is a hospitable city who takes care of all residents.

"Following preventive measures also protects your family from the virus - so do the right thing as heroes do," Khan concludes.

The second phase of Abu Dhabi's sanitisation and testing in labour areas is underway, which started on May 16. Special testing facilities have been set up in the city for this purpose that test thousands of workers everyday.

As of May 17, UAE has confirmed over 23,000 cases along with over 8,000 recoveries and 220 deaths.

The country recently made a breakthrough in treating Covid-19 by using stem cells to help with the recovery.

The UAE leadership has thanked citizens and residents for their cooperation and assured that the country will take care of everyone in the country - with food and medicines being the red line, and that there will be no shortage of either during the crisis. Stimulus packages have been announced to help businesses stay afloat.

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