RIYADH — Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Ahmed Al-Rajhi said that the local employment market witnessed the entry of 400,000 young Saudi men and women during the year 2021. He said the strategy of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Scholarship Program targets 70,000 young Saudi men and women to qualify them to take up challenging professions in the labor market. "The strategy aims to raise the efficiency of the employment market and the requirements of the private sector in special disciplines. "In this respect, Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman is keen on sending scholarship students to the best universities in the world," he said in a press conference to brief on the salient features of the strategy here on Sunday. Al-Rajhi said that there are two million Saudis in the labor market and they are capable of taking up many jobs. "Talking about the lack of Saudi competence is unrealistic, as the people of the country have excelled in their work in many fields." He said that sending students abroad under the scholarship program does not mean the lack of capabilities of local universities, but rather aims to focus on specific disciplines that may not available in the Kingdom. This also enables the students to adapt with different environments in various countries, he said while noting that scholarship is not only limited to learning, but includes training for a year or two after studying in order to acquire sufficient proficiency and experience in the respective fields. The minister clarified that the strategy took into account the labor market strategy previously approved by the Council of Ministers, which includes 27 reform initiatives. "The objectives of the strategy lie in raising the efficiency of the labor market, as well as in increasing the economic participation rate from 40 percent baseline to 60 percent by 2030, in addition to focusing on the private sector and its needs," he said. He added that the Provider (Emdad) path is a specialized track for bachelors and master's degrees in the world's best 200 universities.
