RIYADH: The Passport Department will soon begin to teach its staff at ports of entry more languages to better serve passengers, especially those coming from manpower-exporting countries to the Kingdom from South and East Asia.

This was announced here recently by Maj. Gen. Sulaiman bin Abdul Aziz Al-Yahya, director general of the Passport Department, at the launching of a comprehensive scheme for training development in partnership with the ELM company, owned by the government’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).

“This language initiative will be part of the scheme to encompass all our existing training initiatives and programs, and will introduce new training ideas and programs, and implement strategies to further enhance the capabilities of our civil and military staff.”

The partnership agreement was signed by Maj. Gen. Al-Yahya and Dr. Abdul Rahman bin Saad Al Jadie, CEO of ELM company.

At a press conference following the signing, Al-Yahya did not elaborate on the total number of staff targeted by this scheme, but he said that all staff categories will be included at the right time, pointing out that the first year of the agreement will focus on evaluating the current training conditions at the department to determine the overall and detailed training needs and to construct the appropriate training programs.

“This will be carried out with our partner ELM which will complement our existing training efforts with state-of-art training solutions not only in information technology but also in management and interpersonal skills, and public relations manners, so our staff can act more efficiently and professionally in various locations, upon the directives of Minister of Interior and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif,” he said.

He mentioned that part of the scheme will be transforming the existing Passport Institute of the Passport Department in Riyadh to a model institution not only in the Middle East, but also in the world qualifying passport officers who can provide passport services reflect the status of the Kingdom as the cradle of Islam.