Deputy Labor Minister Abdulwahed Al-Humaid said between 8 and 9 million of Saudi Arabia’s population of over 25 million were temporary foreign residents who have effectively become part of the economic fabric of the Kingdom.
“Our goal is not to employ Saudis in any employment but to give them the right job, to give them skills. Our goal is to train Saudis in jobs where they add value to the economy,” he said in an interview.
“I dream of a society where you have Saudis doing high-quality jobs. We need engineers, doctors, technicians. If we have to bring somebody from outside I prefer that it’s for simple jobs,” he told Reuters.
Saudi Aramco is setting up the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) to produce Saudi scientists and engineers and four “economic cities” aim to provide white-collar jobs and training for Saudis.
Humaid pointed to the impoverished southern region of Jazan, location of one of the economic city projects.
“They are taking these poor people and sending them to Malaysia, for example, as in the case of Jizan and by time the city is finished you will have people who are college graduates (who will live and work there),” he said. “This is the type of job we prefer, that our people work as engineers,” he added.
The cities are being built by imported foreign labour.
Expatriates transfer 60 billion riyals ($ 16 billion) a year out of Saudi Arabia to their home countries, Humaid said, second to the size of remittances from the United States.