RIYADH, 22 May 2003 — The Human Resources Development Fund has signed a contract here with Riyadh International Catering Corporation to provide jobs to 267 young Saudis in 52 McDonald’s outlets in the Central and Eastern Provinces.

The contract was signed on behalf of the HRDF by its director general Dr. Mohammed A. Al-Sahlawi while Prince Mishal ibn Khaled ibn Fahad Al-Saud signed as president of RICC, which is the sole licensee for McDonalds in the Central and Eastern Provinces.

Last month, the HRDF signed a similar contract with Abdulrahman Alireza, president of Reza Food Co. to hire 100 Saudis in the McDonald outlets in the Western Province.

Dr. Al-Sahlawi told Arab News that the Fund had played a key role in providing job opportunities for over 13,000 Saudis, both men and women, since the launch of the partnership program in March last year.

“Of course, these 13,000 Saudis are not going to be employed right away but over a planned period in line with the contracts that we have signed with the private sector,” the director-general said, adding that 129 companies from the private sector had so far signed up for the Saudization program.

This was in addition to contracts with 365 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to train young Saudis for technical manpower in collaboration with the General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training (GOTEVOT). The HRDF was also involved in joint training programs with the chambers of commerce and industry in the Kingdom.

Referring to the agreement with RICC, Dr. Al-Sahlawi said that of the 267 recruits, 93 would be hired this year, with the remainder to be absorbed once training is complete next year. The first batch of trainees will comprise a mix of administrative and technical jobs. Trainees in technical jobs will be paid around SR2,000 per month and SR2,400 after training.

Those in administrative jobs will be paid SR3,300 during and SR3,500 after training. The Fund will subsidize 75 percent of the salary during the training period and 50 percent for one year during the employment period.

Prince Mishal told Arab News that with the recruitment of these 267 Saudis the strength of the Saudi manpower at RICC would increase to 367 in the next two years.

They would thus constitute over 30 percent of the company’s total workforce. He added that four more would be added to RICC’s existing network of 52 outlets in the Central Province.

Currently, it has a total of 75 outlets in the Central and Eastern Provinces.