JEDDAH: Bab Rizq Jameel (BRJ), an initiative of Abdul Latif Jameel Community Services Programs (ALJCSP), created a total of 41,284 jobs for young men and women during 2009 in different parts of the Kingdom.

Mohammed Jameel, chief job creation officer at BRJ, disclosed plans to create 46,000 job opportunities in 2010 and open new branches in other parts of the Kingdom. He thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Crown Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, the Second Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Prince Naif, provincial governors and ministers for their continuous support for BRJ programs.

“Since its inception, ALJCSP has created more than 113,509 jobs,” he said.

Jameel commended the efforts of governmental organizations, specifically Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) and the Saudi Credit & Saving Bank (SCSB), in addition to 400 male and female job creation officers in the organization.

Jobs have also been created through BRJ’s diversified job creation programs, which include training that ends with employment, direct employment, taxi ownership, truck ownership, small project finance, productive household, work-from-home and franchise programs.

Some jobs were arranged with the support of the HRDF and the SCSB, a statement by BRJ said, adding that direct employment programs helped create 7,493 jobs.

Direct employment is achieved by analyzing job opportunities available with private companies or establishments, which send their vacancies to BRJ centers around the Kingdom, and defining the qualifications required for such jobs. The program created 4,074 jobs for men and 3,419 jobs for women.

“Among the jobs created for young men through this program were sales representatives, cashiers, and central telephone operators, with monthly salaries ranging from SR2,500 to SR4,500,” the statement said. Jobs created for young women included sales representatives, receptionists, tailors and public relation officers.

Through the ‘training ending with employment’ program, 2,825 jobs have been created, of which 1,605 were for men and 1,220 for women, the statement said. This program concentrates on vocational and craft-training courses, it added.

Training courses were conducted for electricians, salespersons, refrigeration technicians, receptionists, foods and confectioneries. Specialized courses were held for women in beauty care, nursing, cooking and computer maintenance.

During the year, BRJ financed 5,110 small projects. Among the projects financed were beauty salons, laundries, distribution of electronics products, confectionary and pastries businesses, female accessories, wedding businesses, distribution of mobile phones and computers. The average interest-free loan is SR50,000. BRJ extends interest-free loans up to SR150,000 for such projects which should be repaid within five years.

Based on Grameen Bank’s microfinance concept, the “productive household” program provided support to 24,756 women during 2009 to start micro-projects, such as handmade goods, perfumes and perfume mixtures and confectioneries. Interest-free loans up to SR5,000 are given under this program.

Through the truck ownership program, 762 trucks were provided to young Saudi men to work as drivers and use their trucks to transport various goods. As many as 322 Saudis benefited by the taxi ownership program last year, the statement said.

In addition, training opportunities have been provided to 915 women through Nafisa Shams Academy for Arts and Crafts, an affiliate of BRJ. Sixteen women got jobs through the “work from home” program, which is supervised by the academy. Through this program, approximately 2,000 prayer rugs are produced monthly and sold to Toyota and Lexus.

The statement said people in the Makkah province received the highest number (11,272) of new jobs, followed by the Eastern Province (6,822), Madinah (6,289), Riyadh (5,845), Hail (3,811), Jazan (3,058), Abha (2,338) and Qassim (1,849).