Saudi Electronics and Home Appliances Institute (SEHAI) that will offer a two-year intensive technical training program to a group of some 80 select Saudi students is slated to open on Sept. 26 of this year in Riyadh. The institute, which is aimed, among others, at providing employment to the growing number of Saudi workforce, is a result of cooperation and partnership between the Japanese and Saudi government and private sectors. SEHAI is funded by Japan in partnership with the Saudi government and business sector. It was established under the framework of Japan-Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Joint Task Force. Distributors of Japanese electronics products in the Kingdom, a Japanese technical college, and Japanese electronics and home appliances manufacturers are the “primary supporters”, not sponsors as previously mentioned, of the institute. “The Japanese government and the Saudi government are working together as partners to support the institute,” Nakano Kyoji, representative in Jeddah of Japan Corporation Center for the Middle East (JCCME), told the Saudi Gazette, dismissing earlier report that the “Japanese government has a 50 percent stake in the institute.” He said a meeting will be held at the InterContinental Hotel Jeddah on July 25-26 to evaluate the details and mechanics for the opening of classes at SEHAI, which is located at Dir'iyah, 20km northwest from central Riyadh. A delegation from Japan will be in town to participate in the meeting, he added. The first batch of students was chosen from Saudi high school graduates across the Kingdom, Kyoji said and they will be billeted in an accommodation provided by the Saudi government. He further said that students are assured of employment immediately after completion of the curriculum as they are already employed by member-companies of the association of Saudi electronic home appliances distributors. SEHAI's original three courses are electronics, air conditioner & home appliances, and computer & office equipment. The 10 SEHAI instructors from the Philippines and India have undergone a three-month comprehensive training program in Japan, he pointed out. “It is a joint project that symbolizes the new cooperative relationship between the two countries.” SEHAI - Saudi Working Group (SWG) is responsible for the management of the institute, while the Japanese government provides academic materials, syllabi, curricula, and other required materials. It also dispatches Japanese specialists to act as advisers to instructors and provides other necessary support for the first three years after the opening of the institute.
