SAMA issues deadline for Saudization of insurance claims, customer care

Ahmed Al-Khulaifi
Updated 15 June 2017
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SAMA issues deadline for Saudization of insurance claims, customer care

JEDDAH: Insurance companies are required to employ only Saudis in their claims and customer care departments by the end of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday.
The circular, in which the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) obliged insurance companies to Saudize the above-mentioned sections, will come into effect on July 2, followed by another phase aiming to nationalize senior and technical positions at these companies.
SAMA Gov. Ahmed Al-Khulaifi said developing a national workforce in the sector is SAMA’s intent. Although insurance and reinsurance companies achieved Saudization rates of 58 percent in 2016, the ambition is to nationalize higher management and technical jobs, he said, calling on companies to start training citizens for these positions.
SAMA is coordinating with universities to make sure that the technical knowledge and programs needed by the sector are being provided. Al-Khulaifi called on insurance companies to hire graduates from these institutions.
Nationalizing insurance jobs is necessary, given the current economic changes and goals of the Vision 2030, said the governor.


Saudi, Pakistan defense chiefs discuss ‘measures needed to halt’ Iranian attacks on Kingdom

Updated 07 March 2026
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Saudi, Pakistan defense chiefs discuss ‘measures needed to halt’ Iranian attacks on Kingdom

RIYADH: Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Pakistan’s  Chief of Defense Forces Asim Munir discussed Iran’s attacks on the Kingdom, amid the escalating military conflict in the Middle East. 

“We discussed Iranian attacks on the Kingdom and the measures needed to halt them within the framework of our Joint Strategic Defense Agreement,” Prince Khalid wrote on social media early on Saturday.

“We stressed that such actions undermine regional security and stability and expressed hope that the Iranian side will exercise wisdom and avoid miscalculation.”

The US and Israel began a large-scale military campaign against Iran on Feb. 28. Iran has since attacked a number of sites across the Gulf.

Tehran has also attacked US and Israeli military assets as the war as escalated, impacting lives in the peaceful Arabian Gulf peninsula and risked shaking the global economy as Iran continued restricting energy shipping along the Strait of Hormuz.

The Saudi Defense Ministry said a number of drones had been shot down that were targeting the Shayba oil field in the Empty Quarter on Saturday.

A drone attacked the US embassy in Riyadh on Tuesday causing a minor fire, but no one was hurt in the incident.

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a “Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement”  in September, pledging that aggression against one country would be treated as an attack on both.

Separately, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, the Saudi interior minister, received a call from his Pakistani counterpart Raza Naqvi, who condemned the blatant attacks targeting the Kingdom and affirmed his country’s solidarity in confronting any threats to the Kingdom’s security and stability, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.