By Abdul Rahman Al-Misbahi

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The employment of Saudi women in the private sector has increased by about 10 percent last year over the previous year to reach 51,040, the Ministry of Labor and Social Development (MLSD) has said.

According to the ministry, the sector of the building and construction has alone employed 14,702 Saudi women in 2016 raising the number of the women in this sector to 165,281.

It said this was followed by the sector of wholesale and retail in which the working women increased by about eight percent.

The ministry has, on the other hand, started the ground work to gradually localize a number of sectors including tourism, supermarkets, health, shopping malls, groceries, car rentals offices and mobile vans selling foods and soft drinks.

The ministry is expected to nationalize jobs in these sectors in the coming few years by 100 percent to employ a large number of Saudi men and women.

The ministry said it had created job opportunities for more than 8,000 Saudi men and women when it nationalized jobs in the mobile selling and maintenance shops.

It said more than 33,000 Saudis would be employed in the tourism sector when it is entirely Saudized in 2018. The Saudization ratio in the sector is presently about 60 percent.

The ministry said the localization of jobs in the supermarkets in Qasim region would generate more than 6,000 employment opportunities.

It revealed that the health sector was nationalized by about 50 percent until the end of 2016 and said more than 93,000 Saudi men and women doctors, nurses and technicians would be employed in government hospitals and health centers by 2020.

The ministry also said it was planning to nationalize the labor market in Madinah which was completed by about 28 percent by the end of 2016.

It said the groceries and confectionary shops, which are now Saudized by about 20 percent, would be entirely Saudized by the year 2020 to provide jobs for more than 20,000 Saudis.

The ministry had earlier announced that the car rental shops, which are now Saudized by about 40 percent, would be completely Saudized to absorb more than 5,000 Saudis.