The Ministries of Labor and Commerce and Industry will work together to boost the level of cooperation between them in order to fight labor irregularities such as commercial concealment and labor market violations.

A number of measures will be taken in this regard, including the instigation of unified inspection operations, exchange of information, and the urging Saudi youths to eschew the commercial concealment activities.

During a meeting that brought together Labor Minister Adel Faqeih and Commerce Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, the two ministries agreed on several points, mainly concerning the efforts for job nationalization, mechanisms to issue seasonal visas for Haj via recruitment firms, and establishing services centers at industrial complexes.

The meeting stressed the intentions of the two ministries to face commercial concealment and labor violation issues in a way that reflects positively on the labor market and job nationalization endeavours.

The Labor and Commerce Ministers were briefed on the efforts of the national Saudization Committee in the employment and maintenance government programs. The two ministers discussed the development of an electronic system to follow up employment contracts and Saudization ratios, establishing a unified classification system for contractors and adopting set standards of efficiency and qualification for this sector.

The meeting was also used to draw up an action plan to provide headquarters for the Human Resources Development Fund (Hadaf) in a number of cities and industrial complexes, thereby easing the procedures for institutions and job seekers.


Earlier, the two ministries announced they they would be embarking on strict steps to apply sanctions against violators of commercial concealment systems, where punishments could include prison for two years and fines of up to SR1 million, in addition to publishing the names of violators in local newspapers and closing down the business with its name cancelled from the commercial registry.