JEDDAH, 1 June 2004 — Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi said that the government was reluctant to implement a “final solution” to the unemployment and Saudization problem, but would do so if pushed. Gosaibi made this statement during an interview with Al-Arabiya Television yesterday.
“Hopefully the government will not reach this stage,” he said in answer to a query from a viewer whether the government had a solution to the growing unemployment problem and the slow Saudization process.
“The final solution is to make the foreign worker’s services more expensive, while simultaneously making the available Saudi services cheaper in comparison,” Gosaibi said while questioned on the Saudization process and the solution.
“There are institutions where Saudization is zero percent. This has to be rectified. I’m not asking the private sector for 100 percent Saudization or something that they cannot achieve. All I’m asking them is to work together (with the government) to eradicate joblessness.
“The SR2,000 fees per visa and the fees to renew them is pretty high. But despite the high fees, the number of foreign workers in the Kingdom has not declined. And till the private sector and the government jointly work on this, nothing can be achieved. If the situation persists, then the government will have to think of implementing the final solution.”
Gosaibi, while reiterating that there are no clear figures on joblessness, said that the estimate was that one third of the 15 million Saudi workforce is unemployed. Government and private sector must work together to solve this, he said.
“I’m not blaming Saudi businesses for the training problem. For (vocational) training to succeed there must be cooperation between the government and the private sector. This cooperation exists all over the world — in Japan, China, etc. We are going to introduce training scholarships and establish joint projects with the private sector.” Gosaibi said.
“In order for the joint efforts to beat fruits, the private sector must treat these projects as ‘national projects’ and not as charity. They should serve the country and the people of the country.”
The issue of Saudis seeking preferential pay while avoiding some jobs was a myth, he said. Saudis now worked in restaurants, sewage plants and other industries and are willing to learn and compete.
But the process of obtaining visas is still continuing. There are people who set up letterbox companies and secure work visas under false pretences, setting up firms in different sectors and securing visas for each of the companies.
Gosaibi said a new department to protect foreign workers’ rights was also on the cards. He again reiterated that all workers are equal and should be treated equally in every respect.
Stating that remittances from Saudi Arabia are the second highest after the United States, the minister said that the government had no plans to introduce a minimum wage plan. “This will negatively impact the economy,” he said.
The government was targeting small and medium enterprises because they were the ones recruiting most heavily abroad.
“Companies like Aramco, SABIC and STC have already achieved 80-90 percent Saudization. I hope these (SMEs) will start exploring the Saudi pool. I also hope that Saudis with family businesses do the same and expand, thus boosting the economy,” he added.
He denied reports that he had said that he would eradicate unemployment in a year, saying that he was misquoted. “All I said was that the positive effects will be felt in a year’s time, but the problem will take many years to solve.”
