RIYADH: At least 50 percent of procurement professions in Saudi Arabia have been localized amid strong efforts to provide more job opportunities for citizens, according to the Kingdom’s Ministry of Human Resources.
The announcement came as a wide set of new activities and professions have been added to the Kingdom’s Saudization drive to further propel job generation in the country.
According to the ministry, 15 percent of sales profession as well as 50 percent of engineering and technical professions for medical devices have been localized.
In addition to this, 60 percent of senior management professions in postal and parcel transportation activities have also been localized.
When it comes to project management professions, 35 percent of them have been localized with a minimum wage of SR6,000 ($1,559).
Moreover, up to 14 diverse activities have been localized in outlets providing services for freight brokers and activities.
Earlier in February this year, the Cabinet, chaired by King Salman, approved the framework for granting incentives for the Saudization of priority goods and services under the Vision 2030 strategy, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
In September 2022, Transport Minister Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser revealed that Saudi Arabia is working to localize 18 professions over the next year, as the Kingdom steadily progresses in its efforts to create more jobs in line with Vision 2030.
Speaking at the Local Content Forum in Riyadh, Al-Jasser said: “The transportation system is working to increase the proportion of localization in all its services. We are close to the percentage of full localization for the profession of co-pilot, and soon the full localization of pilots will be achieved.”
While speaking at the same event, Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih said that the Kingdom has a broader and more comprehensive strategy, which will help differentiate between localization and local content.
“Local content is one of the regulatory and legislative tools that different countries use within certain limits to achieve broader strategies and policies for settlement,” he said.
