MAKKAH — Ghazi Al-Shahrani, deputy minister of human resources and social development for Saudization, called on young people to benefit from the support provided by the ministry to health facilities, amounting to SR2 billion. Addressing the eighth and final session of a series of virtual meetings on the theme of "Countering the Crisis," organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Makkah on Tuesday, he urged the youth to apply for it through the Social Development Bank. The session discussed major government initiatives to support human resources in the private sector. Deputy Minister for International Affairs Maher Al-Qasim, Deputy Director General of Human Resources Development Fund (HADAF) to support employment Ahmed Al-Mujish, and Acting Director General of Inspection and Collection at the General Organization for Social Insurance Ibrahim Al-Olayan also attended the session. Al-Shahrani stressed that the Kingdom was proactive at all levels to launch precautionary initiatives and measures to face the coronavirus crisis, saying that the initiatives launched by the ministry are massive in addressing the economic effects of the pandemic crisis. He said that the ministry started, through its Ajeer Program, an employee exchange initiative to ease the pressure for workers by allowing the hiring of temporary foreign workers, and the initiative to calculate the employment of Saudis in Nitaqat Saudization Program resulted in hiring 72,000 citizens in various sectors. Al-Shahrani noted that there were establishments that stopped their operation due to their inability for payment of salaries. "The ministry intervened to resolve their problem and enabled them to resume their work. Around 8,000 enterprises have benefited from the ministry's support initiative," he added. Al-Shahrani said the ministry's unemployment insurance support (SANED) is made available to those engaged in self-employment for a period of three months, as well as to productive families and unemployed young men and women. On his part, Maher Al-Qasim said that the ministry continuously approves evaluation and follow-up of its initiatives to improve and develop them, noting that there is a ministerial committee studying the reopening of commercial activities. Al-Mujaysh said that the support of HADAF includes all employees for whom the Labor Law is applicable. SANED support does not prevent receiving support from HADAF, he said, while adding that the support will not end on May 10 but it will continue, but what will discontinue is the retroactive payment.
