JEDDAH: The Council of Ministers on Monday decided to adopt a new strategy focusing on the total employment of the Saudi national work force. This is in line with the recommendation of the Supreme Economic Council.
The decision was taken at the weekly meeting of the council, presided over by Second Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Prince Naif at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah.
The strategy aims at the sustained increase in the participation of the national work force and growth in the productivity of the national work force to a level comparable to advanced countries.
“The short-term goal (two years) of the employment strategy is to bring the unemployment rate among Saudis under control and its medium-term goal (three years) is to reduce their unemployment rate. The long-term goal of the strategy is to achieve the competitiveness of the national economy with reliance on national human resources,” Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari, who is also acting minister of culture and information, said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency after the meeting of the council of ministers.
Unemployment among Saudi nationals is high. The general unemployment rate among Saudis is 10 percent. Among women it was 26.9 percent in August 2008, according to a statement from Deputy Labor Minister Abdul Wahid Al-Humaid. He said in an earlier statement that the new Saudi employment strategy would end unemployment of Saudis. He stressed the importance of developing a work culture among Saudi youth.
Monday’s council meeting also welcomed the recent decision by the International Court in The Hague on the border demarcation of Sudan’s Abyei region.
“It (the decision of the International Court) is a positive step that will bring about lasting peace and stability to the region and unity of the people in the country. It will also encourage the return of refugees to their homes in a spirit of peaceful coexistence,” the council observed, according to Al-Anqari.
The council commended the decision of the recent emergency meeting of Arab health ministers in Cairo to endorse the procedures and precautionary measures to be taken in order to combat swine flu and reduce its spread during Haj and Umrah this year.
