Saudi Gazette report

DHAKA — Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) launched on Wednesday the Skill Verification Program (SVP) in Bangladesh as part of a scheme to attract more skilled workers from that country.

Five professions, such as plumber, electrician, welder, refrigeration/air conditioning technician, and automobile electrician, were selected for the skill testing in the first phase of the external track of the program, which is being implemented under the ministry’s Professional Accreditation Program.

Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Essa Yussef Essa Al-Duhailan signed on Wednesday an SVP agreement with the Bangladeshi Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training. The ambassador said that the SVP would help Bangladesh to send their skilled workers to Saudi Arabia which will boost remittance inflow and contribute more to Bangladesh's economy. “It is good to have skilled workers. There are no fees that need to be paid by any worker. The employer in Saudi Arabia and their authorized individual will shoulder all the expenses for a visa, air ticket, medical report, police report, and everything,” Al-Duhailan said.

Pakistan was the first country to utilize the Saudi skilled workers’ program. The MHRSD launched SVP in Pakistan last September and it was introduced later in India. The ministry introduced SVP in July 2021 as part of regulating its labor market in the best possible manner. In December 2021, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a landmark agreement for certification and employment of the Pakistani skilled workforce.

The first phase of the SVP aims to verify the skills of workers in five specializations out of 23 specializations targeted by the ministry, with the aim of improving the quality of professional manpower in the Saudi labor market and raising the level of professionalism, as well as enhancing productivity, and halt the flow of unqualified professional labor into the Kingdom’s labor market.

The SVP’s objective is to verify that workers in the targeted professions possess the necessary skills through two tracks -internal and international. The first track aims to examine the skills of professional workers currently in the Kingdom and that is in cooperation with local examination centers, while the second track aims to examine professional labor before their arrival, and that is in cooperation with a number of accredited international examination centers.

The SVP seeks to be a leading contributor to the development of the professional workforce, according to international standards to meet the needs of the Saudi labor market, in addition to raising the quality of services and enhancing productivity in the labor market.