Rashid bin Muhammad Al-Zahrani was addressing the conference of the private training institutes for the year 1433H (2012), which was held Sunday at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry under the slogan "Towards a Fruitful Training."

Al-Zahrani said the requirements of the Saudi labor market were taken into consideration at the training programs, which covered various fields. "The training provided to the Saudi men and women covered about 256 specialties including computer, electricity, electronics, car mechanics, wielding, engineering, management, law, travel and tourism, hotel sciences, safety and fire-fighting, geology, roads, oil and gas, plastics, media, fine arts, nutrition, security guarding, diving and fishing.

Al-Zahrani explained that these training programs were provided by 936 private training institutions and said more and more young Saudi men and women would be joining the institutions in the next three years.

He said there are high institutes that grant diplomas and hold training and self-development programs, training centers that only provide development training, and technical institutes that train secondary school graduates.

Al-Zahrani described the training market in the Kingdom as flourishing, especially under the current economic boom, and said the focus was now on quality rather than quantity.

He said the fees of these institutes vary due to their locations, the house rents they pay, the equipment they use and the instructors they employ.