Ali Bin Gharsan and Hatem Al-Masoudi Okaz/Saudi Gazette
MAKKAH – Adel Fakieh, Minister of Labor, said a new version of the country's nationalization plan known as Nitaqat will be launched in two months time and will focus on wages and not only numbers when it comes to the percentage of Saudization achieved by a certain company. “The new version will focus on quality, not only quantity, and improve wages,” Fakieh said. “We're going to design mechanisms that focus on the level of wages. If a certain wage is less than the required level, it won't be accepted by Nitaqat. So we're not looking only at the number of Saudis to say whether Saudization requirement or percentage has been met or not, we're also looking at the amount of wages.” The Nitaqat program categorizes companies in four categories — Excellent, Green, Yellow and Red. Companies in the first two categories have met the required Saudization quotas and are offered perks including the ability to apply for work visas and renews their expatriate workers' residency permits (Iqamas). Companies in the Red and Yellow categories failed to meet the required Saudization quotas and are slapped with various restrictions. Fakieh said his ministry is aware of attempts by some companies to get around the system by giving fake employment contracts to Saudis and thus show that the company has employed the required number of Saudis. “These attempts will come to a stop when the ministry, in conjunction with the Passport Administration, starts conducting joint inspection visits in about three months. They will also put an end to the activities related to foreign workers who do not work for their sponsors, a phenomenon that has been on the increase ever since Saudization enforcement committees stopped paying visits to businesses,” he said. Regarding the ban on domestic workers from the Philippines and Indonesia, Fakieh said the ministry, together with the Philippine and Indonesian sides, had reached the final stages of negotiations. “In a matter of few weeks, you will hear positive results regarding the agreements made between both sides.” Earlier this year when the two Far East Asian countries refused to send its citizens to the Kingdom until the rights of their workers were guaranteed, the Saudi Ministry of Labor responded by issuing its own ban and criticized the demands of the Indonesian and Philippine governments as excessive and unreasonable.
