“All suggestions and observations from recruiting agencies will be considered when setting up the proposed companies, the priority for which are those formed by a group of currently operating agencies,” Undersecretary for Planning and Development at the Ministry of Labor Mufrij Al-Haqabani said.
He made the remarks during a meeting of recruitment agencies at the Saudi Council of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Riyadh on Sunday. “Only in the event of the recruitment agents’ failure to find the capital to set up a new recruitment company will other investors be allowed to enter the sector. If the need arises, help from outside investors will be permitted,” Al-Haqabani said.
The official expressed his hope that the new companies would end illegal practices and regulate the foreign recruitment sector.
The recruitment agents attending the meeting demanded amendment of several provisions in the ministry’s regulations governing the new companies.
They wanted cancellation of the time limit stipulated for the launching of a company. The ministry said in an earlier statement that the companies should be set up within one year.
They also demanded that their expertise should be used in the operation of the proposed companies. Another demand was that the capital required for the founding of a company should be lowered.
They also recommended that the present practice of contracting companies recruiting foreign workers should be banned, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The ministry announced last week that major companies would replace small recruitment agencies. Such companies should be formed by merging five or more current recruitment agencies.
Companies with SR50 million paidup capital can recruit only domestic workers, the ministry said. If a company intends to offer recruitment services to the public and private sectors apart from recruitment for domestic workers, its capital should be SR100 million.
