PARIS — Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Eng. Ahmed Bin Sulaiman Al-Rajhi has met with the Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mathias Cormann during his visit to Paris where he participated in the ministerial meeting of OECD Working and Employment Group Friday.

Eng. Al-Rajhi stressed the importance of these international forums to intensify efforts and consolidate joint cooperation between countries to meet the challenges facing labor markets and societies, adding that the labor market in the Kingdom has witnessed in recent years a great transformation in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, which aims to build a more prosperous, developing and vibrant homeland.

He pointed to the areas of cooperation with the organization in the economic and development fields during the coming period, especially as the ministry runs Riyadh Network and Center for Behavioral Policies of the Group of Twenty and is currently working on several initiatives related to skills and employment.

He added that coordination with the organization’s stakeholders will contribute to developing policies, capacity building and related statistics.

In turn, Cormann expressed his thanks to Eng. Al-Rajhi for accepting the invitation and Saudi Arabia’s participation in the ministerial meeting of the Working and Employment Group. He welcomed the joint work in all areas of cooperation available between the two parties, calling for direct coordination with the concerned parties in the ministry to study and activate the available areas of cooperation.

It is noteworthy that the Kingdom’s participation in the ministerial meetings of the organization came in response to an invitation from the United Kingdom government and OECD. Eng. Al-Rajhi participated in the main session on June 7 and delivered a speech highlighting the Kingdom’s distinctive experience in dealing with the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic on labor markets and societies. — SPA