JEDDAH, 4 September 2004 — Eighty percent of administrative, accounting and translation jobs in customs clearance offices must be Saudized, Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi said yesterday in a new directive aimed at creating more jobs for Saudis and thus cutting the Kingdom’s unemployment rate.
“The remaining 20 percent is left for specialized jobs,” the minister said, adding that efforts would continue to fully Saudize jobs of customs liaison officers. He said the ministry had given customs clearance offices three months grace period to Saudize jobs.
Saudization of customs clearance jobs is expected to create 17,000 jobs for Saudis. There are 3,452 customs clearance offices in different parts of the country, the Saudi Press Agency said.
Gosaibi urged the clearance offices to make use of the training programs being offered by the General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training, Manpower Development Fund and the Institute of Public Administration.
The minister also advised the offices to employ the graduates of English language diploma course conducted by Imam Muhammad ibn Saud University in Riyadh as translators. Some 1,000 young Saudis have so far completed the English language course.
Gosaibi warned that computers of those offices that fail to Saudize jobs would be stopped after giving them a two-month grace period to correct their job situation.
The government Saudized jobs of customs brokers and their assistants two years ago when it said jobs at customs clearance offices such as customs experts, accountants, translators and field workers would be Saudized gradually within the next two years.
A special panel comprising representatives of the Customs Department, Ministry of Labor and the Passports Department had been set up to conduct field inspections to make sure that the Saudization drive in the sector was going well.
