About 50 government, private and non-profit sectors entities offered 600 job opportunities for people with disabilities over the two-day Tamkeen exhibition in Riyadh that ended on Monday.

The exhibition, which was organized by the Authority for the Care of Persons with Disabilities, aimed to link the competencies of people with disabilities to the business sector.

The exhibition, which was inaugurated by the CEO of APD, Dr. Hisham Al-Haidari, included several activities and events — including workshops presented by specialists — for individuals and entities. These covered the basics of sign language, CV writing, personal interviews, seminars on the rights of persons with disabilities in the labor market, the role of the family in empowerment, and many success stories of disabled people.

Many people with disabilities from outside of Riyadh benefited from the virtual exhibition through the link published on the authority’s accounts on social networks.

“During the exhibition, an electronic link was provided for those wishing to apply for job opportunities available during the Tamkeen exhibition through a virtual exhibition of companies that have job opportunities,” Suleiman Al-Rumaikhan, director of community communications at APD, told Arab News.

“Anywhere in the Kingdom, you can enter through the link and communicate with companies directly to review the job opportunities offered there,” he said.

Al-Rumaikhan said that the importance of the exhibition was in its mission to serve people with disabilities: “The challenge was to link the work sectors and the competencies of people with disabilities with their different abilities.”

Many agencies provided job opportunities in various roles, “including leadership positions,” which were on display to exhibition visitors with disabilities who were looking for work, he said.

Ahmed Al-Fuhaid, an expert on empowering people with disabilities, said that “such exhibitions help to highlight the competencies of people with disabilities and connect them with employers in a way that ensures that they obtain their right to opportunities in the labor market on an equal basis with their peers from society.”

“Some employers are surprised at the energies and enthusiasm of persons with disabilities and their high qualifications, except that they need equal opportunities and actual jobs to ensure that they are considered an active element in the work community,” he said.

Al-Fuhaid said that the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 stipulated empowering people with disabilities and making them effective individuals according to the highest standards.

He stressed the importance of empowering this segment of society through the use of modern trends and successful global practices “from the beginning of their joining the journey of searching for work until they reach the stage of sustainability and job stability interspersed with awareness and guidance and training in the skills needed by the labor market.”