JEDDAH, 12 February 2005 — A dearth of Saudi drivers has forced the government to further postpone full nationalization of limousine business from Feb. 10.
Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi said the Saudization drive in the sector would be carried out in phases within the next three years.
“At present we don’t have enough Saudis willing to work in this sector and it will be difficult to Saudize this sector within a short period,” the minister told reporters.
He said 30 percent of drivers in the sector would be Saudized during this Hijrah year, which began on Feb. 10. “This rate will be further increased to 60 percent next Hijrah year (1427) and 100 percent in the third year,” he explained.
The government decided two years ago to fully Saudize the sector as part of a major drive to find jobs for the growing number of unemployed Saudis.
Gosaibi’s timely decision will save limousine companies SR1 billion. “We will review all the unrealistic decisions that were taken before,” Al-Madinah Arabic daily quoted the minister as saying.
The Saudization plan was to affect more than 700 taxi companies that own more than 70,000 cars across the country. Taxi company owners feared that the move would drive them out of business because there are not enough Saudi drivers who want to work full-time.
As per the previous decision, licenses of limousine companies would not be renewed until they achieve 100 percent Saudization. In an order issued in 1423H, taxi firms were told to Saudize 30 percent of drivers within six months, 50 percent by the end of 1424H, 75 percent by the first six months of 1425H and 100 percent by the yearend.
“We are not demanding the impossible,” Gosaibi said referring to requests of limousine companies to review the decision to save their businesses from closure.
“There are not enough Saudi taxi drivers,” Saeed Al-Qahtani, a taxi owner said. “There is a great demand, and families depend on taxis for transportation. If the order to fully Saudize the sector is enforced, many families will have no means of transportation,” he said.
Gosaibi said his ministry was successful in bringing down unemployment rate to five percent. He also pointed out that among the country’s 180,000 jobseekers 20,000 were unqualified.
“There is a plan to employ 100,000 Saudis. This will again bring down the number of unemployed to 80,000,” Gosaibi pointed out. But he did not give a timeframe for the employment of these Saudis.
Referring to employment of women, the minister said the government was working to create a suitable atmosphere for them to work in the private sector by establishing women-only industries and shops.
