Shoura Panel Rejects Fee on Expat Teachers

JEDDAH, 27 May 2006 — The Shoura Council’s financial committee has rejected a proposal that called for imposing an SR1,000 fee on every expatriate woman working at international schools as teachers and administrative staff, said informed sources close to the consultative body.

The sources said the 150-member Shoura would soon vote on the proposal, which was made as part of the government’s efforts to Saudize jobs in the private sector and increase revenues. “The financial committee has rejected the proposal on the basis of five reasons,” one source told Arab News.

The source said Ehsan Bu-Hulaiga, chairman of the financial committee, would reply tomorrow to questions raised by Shoura members on the issue during the previous sessions. The fee was to be imposed on expatriate women who are not under the sponsorship of these schools.

The Shoura panelists said they believed the imposition of the proposed annual fee would not discourage foreign recruitment.