RIYADH: There will be no exceptions for Syrians, Yemenis, or any other nationalities to work in the telecommunications sector, said Ministry of Labor Spokesman Khaled Aba Al-Khail.

He said the ministry is working to limit work in the sector only to Saudi nationals, and denied that that the ministry will consider any exceptions in the future.

Al-Eqtisadiah reported on the reluctance of Saudis to work in the sector despite the decision to nationalize it, and the launch of specialized training in mobile phone maintenance throughout the Kingdom by the General Organization for Technical and Vocational Training targeting 4,000 youths.

Expats attributed the reluctance of Saudi nationals to work in the sale and maintenance of mobile phone devices to the low salaries and fears of lack of sustainability of the work, but expect that the percentage of ghost Saudization will increase in the sector due to the difficulty of managing the phenomenon.

They said there are a large number of Saudis who have registered mobile shops using the names of their wives, which will contribute to raising ghost Saudization by hiring relatives in these shops.

In turn, citizens have viewed the idea of nationalizing these shops as a positive one, but difficult to implement on the ground, especially as expats continue to control the market. They called for setting minimum salary levels in the sector to attract Saudis.