RIYADH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah yesterday urged young Saudi men and women to embrace a work culture to become successful in the job market as well as in life.
In his keynote speech to a technical conference here, which was delivered on his behalf by Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi, King Abdullah said the current budget had allocated SR120 billion for education and training.
The Saudi Technical Conference and Exhibition (STCEX) seeks to promote home-grown technology, adopt innovative foreign technology, promote vocational education and Saudize human resources to cut reliance on foreign workers.
King Abdullah pledged that the government would continue to support the projects of the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) to fulfill the desire of Saudi youth to obtain technical education.
The inaugural ceremony was attended by a large number of Saudi officials, diplomats and technical and vocational experts from many countries.
On the sidelines of the conference, the TVTC signed two agreements with Saudi Aramco and another with Samba Financial Group to inculcate awareness and interest about vocational training among Saudi youngsters. Saleh Al-Amr, chairman of the conference, said the TVTC and its partners would now study the scope of cooperation within the framework of the agreements.
Referring to the agenda of the four-day STCEX, Al-Amr said the conference sought to promote Saudi Arabia as a technologically developed country, while exploring new trends in the domain of technical education and vocational training.
“The event symbolizes the government’s concern to promote Saudization of work force, promote technology and create awareness about the vocational training programs,” said Ali Al-Ghafees, TVTC governor.
The event has been organized by the TVTC in cooperation with several private sector partners.
