JEDDAH, 8 November — Interior Minister Prince Naif, who is also chairman of the Manpower Council, has ordered the total Saudization of jobs in gold and jewelry shops from the beginning of next Hijrah year (March 4, 2003), Al-Madinah reported yesterday.
The shop owners have also been strictly instructed to implement 50 percent Saudization this year itself. The minister had ordered that 30 percent of jobs in the sector be Saudized last year, 50 percent this year and 100 percent by next year, but the authorities concerned complained to the prince about noncompliance by shops in most regions.
In order to end the complaint that it is difficult to find qualified Saudis to handle precious metals and stones, a group of Saudi businessmen have decided to open an institute to train youth in all skilled jobs related to the manufacture and sale of gold and jewelry, Al-Watan reported yesterday.
There are about 13,500 jobs available for Saudis in the jewelry sector, according to some studies. Non-Saudi workers, who earn SR450 million annually from the industry, hold most of the jobs. The new institute will facilitate the smooth replacement of expatriate workers with Saudis in line with the government decision to Saudize the sector.
Muhammed Azouz, a member of the gold and jewels committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry and director of the training project at the chamber, said that the World Gold Council had also expressed interest in the diploma courses to be conducted at the proposed institute.
The areas of training will cover trades such as sales of gold and jewels, specialized accounting of gold workshops, handling precious stones, designing, filling and inlaying, polishing and determining the standard of gold. The cost of providing training to 13,500 Saudis will work out to more than SR282 million. When the training courses are completed Saudis will be fully qualified to replace 3,500 expatriates working in 1,100 shops and 10,000 skilled laborers working in 360 workshops in Jeddah alone.
