THE Ministry of Labor and Social Development and Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) signed a memorandum of understanding to train and support Saudi nationals to work in mobile sales and maintenance shops. Minister of Labor and Social Development Dr. Mufrej Al-Haqbani attended the signing ceremony where a number of officials and representatives from the company were present such as Director-General Yesser Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Oraini, adviser to the Minister of CIT and Mobily Chairman Sulaiman Al-Gwaiz. As part of Mobily's CSR, the move is in sync with the directive that targets the total Saudization of all sales outlets and maintenance shops of mobile phones and their accessories with the aim of providing employment and training programs that facilitate Saudis to embark on the job market as well as offering job stability. The signing ceremony was led by Dr. Ibrahim Al-Shafiei, director of the guided nationalization program, and Mulfi Al-Marzooqi, chief human resources officer of Mobily. At the inauguration, Al-Haqbani extended his thanks to Mobily for supporting the nationalization of the telecommunication sector, hoping that the agreement is just a beginning of further cooperation between the ministry and the company in this respect. The labor minister clarified that the MOU comes within the continued efforts to Saudize all shops selling mobile phones and accessories through training Saudi males and females in order to empower them to lead the sector and compete, locally regionally and globally. Addressing participants, Al-Haqbani pointed out that families of social security payouts, productive families and orphans will benefit the most from the agreement as the ministry bears the responsibility towards the beneficiaries of its services to turn them into productive members of the society instead relying on assistance. Al-Haqbani said that the telecom sector is multipurpose and lucrative as the ministry's ambitions are not limited to what is stated in the agreement but other activities are under way, leaving impact on Saudi national in all regions of the Kingdom. He continued that apprenticeship programs would enable Saudi nationals to enter the labor market when they receive best training and achieve excellency in the assigned jobs. Mobily's CEO Ahmed Farroukh extended his thanks to the ministry for signing the memorandum of understanding with the company which represented the keenness of both parties to support positive initiatives. Farroukh added that Mobily recognizes its role to take part in the national programs that serve the interest of the nation and its citizens while the company took the initiative to sign the agreement in cooperation with the ministry, which is in a bid to support the nationalization of the telecoms sector as a top priority for the MLSD. Farroukh said that Mobily believes that the initiative goes hand in hand with the Kingdom's 2030 Vision aiming to generate job opportunities for Saudi males and females as the development of national cadres in such a competitive sector would contribute to the long-term sustainability of economy. The chief executive officer confirmed the Saudization of the cellphone sector would yield success amid the national cadres that possess a great deal of creativity and energy and await the chance to embark on the sector. According to the MOU, the telecom company would provide a comprehensive program that supports the Saudization directive by training around 6,000 Saudi males and females across the Kingdom. Accordingly, trainees will acquire necessary skills to join the phone market through apprenticeship to master salesmanship, marketing, accounting basics, warehouse management and maintenance basics, in addition to dealing with play stores and solving technical issues relating to services, products and systems. Meanwhile, the company will offer incentives and other benefits under the " Partner Plus" program (Shariki Plus) to support around 5,000 Saudi males and females in the telecom sector as training is planned to target not less than 15 percent of females and 10 percent for special categories including orphans and persons with disabilities. MLSD inks two MOU in charity work, social partnership The ministry signed recently two memoranda of understanding with the Ministry of Education and the Excellence Training Centre in the fields of developing special categories of society and training. The ceremony was led by Governor of Asir Region Prince Faisal bin Khalid and Minister of Labor Al-Haqbani to develop charity work and enhance social partnership. The fist memorandum of understanding was formed between the MLSD's branch in Asir and its counterpart at MOE that focuses on taking care of children, persons with disabilities and orphans and protecting them against abuse, in addition to other development aspects. The second agreement was inked between the MLSD and the center to hold apprenticeship programs and training courses and enhance social collaboration. The recently signed MOU has stemmed from another agreement that was previously inked between the ministers of education and labor and social development in Taif on Sept. 10, 2015, aiming to develop joint policies and regulations. The joint agreement was in a bid to set the wheel in motion for the collective roles played by the organizations of society with the aim of achieving several objectives that the Kingdom's leadership has versioned to develop its members. According to the latest agreement between the ministries, children of primary education who have learning ability and are registered in daycare centers are transferred to public/private schools according to the capacity of class and upon the recommendations of the technical committee. The General Directorate of Education in Asir is responsible to provide hearing aids for those with hearing impairment aged 3- 25 years old as well as prepare curricula for students with learning ability who have medical conations that oblige them to stay at daycare centers, providing that they are registered in the ‘Noor' System. The directorate is also tasked to intensify various programs and activities that fit several segments of society that would be included in its annual plan, in addition to ensuring that the information of transferred children would be handled with confidentiality. The MLSD's branch in Asir is planned to appoint a case manager for every five male and female students who are transferred from shelter houses and Centers for taking care of girls to general schools, in order to follow up on them as the ministry provides special services for those with physical impairment. As per the agreement, both the ministries need to link the database of transferred children from the MLSD to MOE as well as enhance cooperation in the fields of psychological and career guidance for students of public education and counselors. Both the entities will organize several meetings and activities at the local and international levels that serve beneficiaries in Asir, as well as benefit from sport and educational facilities and their staff to carry out training and rehabilitation programs including adult literacy and talent discovery programs. Meanwhile, the agreement formed between the ministry and the training center was in an attempt to conduct apprenticeship programs and workshops to develop charity work among senior officials and administrators of the MLSD's branch in Asir as well as staff of charitable foundations and social development committees in order to raise their performance level.
