1,200 Pakistani workers attend Riyadh job fair

About 1,200 Pakistanis of various professions participated on Friday in the second jobs fair organized by the Embassy of Pakistan to help undocumented workers correct their status and find employment.
Khayyam Akbar, deputy mission head and minister at the Pakistani embassy, said: “We thank Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for his kindness in extending the amnesty deadline. We are doing our level best to relieve workers of their problems.”
Akbar urged Pakistani workers to do their best to correct their status before the extended grace period ends on Nov. 3.
“We are thankful to representatives of the participating companies whose contribution is very important for the rectification of illegal workers. I hope there will be more workers and companies coming to the next job fairs,” he said.
“I am also thankful to more than 50 registered Pakistani volunteers for offering their services by extending time and energy to help undocumented workers to find a better place to work. I request all people to spend more time and effort to address all the issues pertaining to the welfare of the Pakistani community,” he said.
Mueenuddin, community welfare attaché at the Pakistan embassy, said: “More than 400 companies have registered at the Pakistani embassy. We made a list of 7,000 workers which we provided to all companies for recruitment purposes.”
“I urge the Pakistani community, those who need to correct their status and those who want to return to Pakistan, to take advantage of the extended grace period,” he said.
He said the deportation center set aside Monday for the exit formalities of only Haj, Umrah and visit-visa overstayers who arrived in the Kingdom after July 2008.
Wassem Hayat Bajwa, commercial attaché at the Pakistani Embassy, said: “The participation of local companies will help boost Saudi-Pak relations.”
Syed Hammad Abid, another community welfare attaché at the Pakistani Embassy, said: “We have prepared and presented a comprehensive road map to Pakistani Ambassador Muhammad Naeem Khan to clear the status of illegal workers. This jobs fair is one of the major steps of this road map.”
“The next jobs fair will be organized in the Eastern Province from July 25 to 26 at the Pakistan international school in Alkhobar. We are also planning to hold other job fairs in major and small cities in the Western Province to reach out to many illegal Pakistani workers,” he said.
A well-known Pakistani investor in construction and the hotel industry in Saudi Arabia, Saeed Nasser Ahmad, told Arab News that his company has jobs available in more than 10 categories with 150 vacancies. “We select the candidate after the interview and start processing the transfer of iqamas immediately.”