Fatima Muhammad

Saudi Gazette



JEDDAH — The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) will be hosting the fourth nationalization exhibition here on June 22.



The event, titled “Real Chances for Saudis”, will be held under the patronage of Makkah Emir Prince Khaled Al-Faisal.



Several public and private local companies are expected to participate in the event.



It hopes to find new ways to solve unemployment among nationals and shed light on successful Saudization experiences.



The previous national exhibition succeeded in providing jobs to over 8,400 Saudis last year, said Hassan Ibrahim Dahlan, JCCI’s deputy secretary general.



Dahlan added that this year the exhibition would be capable of providing more jobs to Saudis due to the amnesty period given to illegal expatriates to correct their status and the desire for many companies to improve their Saudization levels by recruiting more nationals.



He said such exhibitions demonstrate a sense of national and social responsibility.



Al-Anoud Abu Al-Naja, CEO of the Rawabit Al-Ehtiraf company in charge of organizing the event, said a similar exhibition had been held previously at Riyadh and Al-Khobar.



The exhibition, she said, was able to provide 6,000 jobs in each of the two cities.



This nationalization exhibition, she said, also works to follow up with individuals after they obtain new jobs.



Such follow-ups, she said, are essential to find out if Saudis were being kept in their jobs and if they were developing and advancing.

By following up with newly employed Saudis, she said the exhibition can help solve any issues immediately.



She applauded the new campaign to correct malpractices in the labor market and which she said would result in the employment of more Saudis.

For this campaign to succeed, she said more cooperation would be needed between concerned authorities.



Another essential factor is to prevent any further trading in visas that allow expatriates to sneak illegally into the labor market.