“Foreign laborers in the private sector, which employed about five million expatriates in 2009, decreased by 20.9 percent,” said Abdullah Al-Ajlan, director for labor statistics at the Ministry of Labor.

“The downward trend in dependence on foreign workers will continue in the coming years, particularly in recruiting untrained and unskilled workers.

“Orientation programs for Saudi men and women, exhibitions about job opportunities and several other activities have been organized with the aim of ensuring the Saudi workforce is better equipped to meet the requirements of the job market.”

Meanwhile, a forum that aims to highlight new employment opportunities and the expansion of policies to replace foreign workers with those from the domestic labor pool is taking place under the patronage of Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal at Jeddah Hilton on Sunday. The Ministry of Labor, Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the office of Eihab Hassan Abu Rakba and the IIR Middle East Company are jointly organizing the event. In the opening session of the forum, secretary-general of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce Fahd Al-Sultan will outline the changes in manpower strategy that are being implemented in line with modern requirements.

A seminar on Saudization, to be held on the sidelines of the forum, will discuss ways to achieve greater levels of employment opportunities for Saudis. The forum will also cover strategies to counter the emerging challenges in the Saudi job market and restructuring human resources to match the needs of the changing world, said secretary general of the forum Abu Rakba.

“The forum will also explore solutions to the challenges faced by individual companies and establishments,” he said. He added that the Saudization seminar would focus on ways to integrate Saudi women into the main work force.

International human resource and business experts, business leaders, directors of training institutes and recruitment offices and university students will participate in the forum.

According to figures from the Ministry of Labor issued recently, the number of visas issued to foreign workers fell by 14.9 percent in 2009.

They revealed that while 1.8 million visas were issued in 2008, this figure dropped to 1.54 million last year.