ABHA — The Ministry of Labor and Social Development has asserted that it will never rescind its decision to fully Saudize the telecom sector by Sept. 2. "We have no intention of postponing the implementation of the decision or extending the grace period given to mobile shop owners," Minister of Labor and Social Development Mofrej Al-Haqbani said in exclusive statements to Okaz/Saudi Gazette. The minister was commenting on demands made by a number of investors in the sector to extend the grace period by another six months. "There will not be any expatriates in the sector after the Sept. 2 deadline. All employees of the sector will be Saudi men and women," he said, adding that there is not even a zero chance of rescinding the decision or delaying its implementation. Haqbani expressed confidence in the ability and competence of Saudi youth to operate the sector and avail themselves of the opportunity provided to them by the government. "I hereby confirm that the telecom sector will be fully nationalized and urge citizens and expatriates to report any violation," he said. Meanwhile, some 1,692 mobile shops in various parts of the Kingdom were closed down for violation of Saudization regulations. The ministry's inspection teams have made about 20,984 field visits to mobile shops in various regions to check their commitment to the Saudization decision. Some 816 mobile shops were given final warning of permanent closure if they did not correct their situation, said ministry's undersecretary Fahd Bin Abdullah Al-Owaidi. In Al-Baha, as many as 91 shops have responded to the Saudization decision but 32 shops were closed down for violations. Meanwhile, the first women only mobile shop fully operated by Saudi women was opened in Al-Rimal neighborhood in the east of Riyadh on Sunday. The owner of the shop, Abdulrahman Alhimaid, said that he has allocated a specific section to women to carry out mobile phone maintenance work in privacy. A number of economists and training instructors have commended the ministry's decision and said it would provide huge investment opportunities for young Saudis in this sector which has annual investments of more than SR5 billion. In cooperation with the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation, the labor ministry has trained 27,983 Saudi males and females in the telecommunication sector. The trainees spent 25,300 hours in apprenticeship over three months.
