JCCI vows to prepare young Saudis for jobs in vegetable market

JEDDAH — The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry will offer training programs for Saudis who wish to work in the vegetable market. JCCI's Fruit and Vegetables Committee member Jabbar Al-Bishi said the head of the chamber Saleh Kamil met with a number of vegetable traders to discuss how the vegetable market could be saudized. “Several traders expressed their frustration at the unrealistic demand by the National Saudization Committee to Saudize vegetable markets. The meeting ended with the conclusion that there aren’t any Saudis experienced in the field,” said Al-Bishi. He added that following the meeting, the JCCI decided to offer training programs for Saudis to prepare them for work in the vegetable market. “The Human Resources Fund is financing the programs. The chamber cares about the consumers and exerts efforts to ensure that consumers receive the best services and quality goods. Many people do not prefer work in the vegetable market due to poor ventilation. The chamber recognizes that there are many obstacles to overcome before Saudizing the sector,” said Al-Bishi. He said the training programs will prepare Saudis to work in open vegetable markets as well as retail food stores. “The chamber will train a batch of 100 young Saudi men and give them attractive salaries to motivate them to work in the field. The first batch will pave the way for many more batches. The program will have a duration of three months,” said Al-Bishi. Fahd Al-Ghamdi, another member of the committee, said the open vegetable market has already been Saudized despite many obstacles. “We reached out to the Human Resources Fund and we are awaiting a reply. The Saudi youth will get used to the workplace over time and break the stigma of working in the field inviting more Saudis. In order for the Saudization plan to succeed, we need the support of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development and the Human Resources Fund,” said Al-Ghamdi. He said the vegetable market has raised prices recently and the vendors are refusing to lower their prices. Sahim Al-Ghamdi, head of the committee, said half a million tons of fruit and vegetables was imported into the Kingdom from Turkey just before the beginning of Ramadan.