RIYADH: The Kingdom’s drive to localize jobs has been ramped up; just go to various establishments and you will see that jobs previously employing expat workers are now being held by Saudi nationals.
But the Kingdom does not stop there as it continues to look for ways and means to generate employment opportunities for the increasing Saudi population.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Development and the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) have been involved in generating employment opportunities by holding jobs fairs.
The TVTC also provides training to thousands of Saudi nationals seeking jobs so that they will be more qualified for the positions they apply for.
The nationalization drive seems to have been a bandwagon that the private sector wants to jump onto. From time to time, the local chambers of commerce and industry also hold jobs fairs.
The Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), for instance, has held a series of job fairs with the private sector in compliance with the localization drive of the Kingdom.
Private firms offer employment opportunities to young male and female Saudis who attend the jobs fairs and recruit those who pass the hiring criteria and qualify for the positions being offered.
Even private individuals have likewise pitched in. TV host and author Mohsin Shaikh Al-Hassan has presented the “Jobs on Air” show on the Al-Danah television channel.
Private firms such as Carrefour and Al-Hokair & Tourism Recruitment Group have collaborated in the “Jobs on Air” show by providing employment opportunities to those who have applied.
This is all in keeping with Vision 2030, under which efforts are exerted to cut the unemployment rate in the Kingdom from 11.6 percent to 7 percent by 2030.
The Kingdom will also create more than 450,000 jobs in the non-governmental sector by 2020 in accordance with the National Transformation Program (NTP) 2020, which is part of Vision 2030.
The localization of jobs includes practically all positions from executive to managerial, supervisory to clerical and blue-collar jobs in the different fields in the Kingdom, such as the retail sector.
Saudi nationals make up one-fifth the number of workers in the retail sector in the Kingdom. According to Vision 2030, released in 2016, there are only 300,000 Saudis out of 1.5 million workers employed in the retail sector.
The Vision 2030 report said: “We aim to provide job opportunities for an additional million Saudis by 2020 in a growing retail sector that attracts modern, local, regional and international brands across all regions of the country.”
The Ministry of Labor and Social Development recently announced plans to limit work in small groceries to Saudi nationals, local media quoted well-informed sources at the ministry as saying.
The step is expected to provide 20,000 jobs in the first year of implementation and plans are under way to attract Saudi manpower and raise national employment rates in high-priority sectors.
Even jobs at shopping malls have been limited to Saudi men and women in accordance with the ministry’s announcement.
The ministry earlier announced a plan to set up national and regional councils to activate public-private partnership and resolve challenges that obstruct further economic growth in carrying out the ambitious plan outlined in the NTP 2020 and in Vision 2030.
The initiative will help support government entities to understand the needs of the labor market and also involve the private sector in designing and implementing nationalization solutions as well as increasing the number of opportunities for Saudi nationals in various sectors.
The establishment of the councils is an attempt to improve cooperation among representatives of the private sector, companies, chambers of commerce and public entities to lay out effective policies that overcome various issues, and to exchange best practices in the empowerment of the sectors so that they can achieve their growth objectives.
The councils are expected to increase cooperation between the private and public sectors and tackle crucial issues involving the number of Saudi workers in the private sector, the lack of a reliable database on private sector workers, low productivity, lack of creativity, as well as the presence of expats in certain sectors.
Jobs campaign boosts career opportunities for Saudis
Jobs campaign boosts career opportunities for Saudis
National program identifies 165 native plants for afforestation efforts in Asir
- The survey is part of broader plans focused on restoring degraded land, using native vegetation
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s National Afforestation Program has identified more than 165 species of native plants suitable for afforestation in the Asir region, highlighting the ecological diversity of one of the Kingdom’s most environmentally varied areas, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The findings form part of broader national efforts to expand vegetation cover, address land degradation, and support sustainability goals linked to the Saudi Green Initiative and Vision 2030.
According to the program, the identified species are distributed across a wide range of natural environments in Asir, including mountainous terrain, highlands, slopes, valleys, plains, rocky landscapes, and coastal areas stretching from the Red Sea to Tihama.
The species belong to numerous plant families, including Fabaceae, Anacardiaceae, Burseraceae, Capparaceae, Ebenaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Malvaceae, Myrtaceae, Oleaceae, and Primulaceae, among others.
Plants suitable for afforestation range from large and small trees to perennial and annual shrubs, herbs, succulents, bulbs, and climbing plants.
Among the most notable species identified are the grey mangrove, mastic tree, mooring or ben tree, juniper, sycamore fig, wild olive, henna, wild jasmine, hawthorn, and arak.
The Saudi Arabian Botanical Society described the announcement as an important step in protecting plant diversity and strengthening the ecosystem conservation in the Kingdom.
Munirah bin Hamad Al-Hazani, founder and president of the society, said that prioritizing native species is central to sustainable afforestation.
“Focusing on the cultivation of native plants adapted to diverse environments forms the cornerstone of sustainable afforestation projects, as it plays a pivotal role in enhancing vegetation cover, combating land degradation, and conserving natural and financial resources,” she told Arab News.
Al-Hazani added that long-term success depends on cooperation between government bodies and the nonprofit sector, alongside community involvement and environmental awareness programs.
The National Afforestation Program has increasingly emphasized community participation, working with government agencies, private companies, and nonprofit organizations to support planting initiatives and environmental education. Its approach includes promoting volunteerism and discouraging harmful environmental practices, while focusing on the use of native plants adapted to local conditions.
Parallel efforts are underway in other regions of the Kingdom to support vegetation restoration through research and infrastructure development. In Jouf, often referred to as the Kingdom’s food basket, the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Development Authority has established a Central Nursery and a Wild Seeds Research and Production Station to address the growing demand for reliable sources of native seeds and seedlings.
The project was launched in 2023 under the directive of Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, the minister of interior and chairman of the authority’s board of directors.
Since then, the facilities has become a key component of vegetation restoration efforts within the reserve.
The authority has focused on building operational capacity by recruiting and training specialists to manage cultivation and research activities. The research and production station includes 14 mother-seed production fields containing over 400,000 trees and shrubs.
Planting began in late 2024, with more than 30 native plant species represented, selected for their role in the reserve’s natural ecosystem.
The facility also includes two seed storage units with a combined capacity of 3,000 kilograms. Seeds are collected annually from multiple sites within the reserve and used for seedling production habitat rehabilitation.
The Central Nursery spans 6,000 square meters and includes 30 greenhouses spanning 1,500 square meters, as well as two shade houses used during summer months. A plant hardening facility, designed to prepare seedlings for natural environmental conditions, covers 10,000 square meters and is divided into seven sections. The nursery’s annual production capacity reaches 1.5 million seedlings, representing more than 15 native plant species.
Together, these initiatives underscore the growing role of native plant research and propagation in Saudi Arabia’s afforestation strategy, particularly as the Kingdom works to balance environmental restoration with long-term sustainability goals.
