RIYADH — Over 15,000 expatriates entered the country with fake engineering credentials and experience, said Hamad Al-Shaqawi, Chairman of the Saudi Society for Engineers. He said the society reached an agreement with a specialist company to check the academic qualifications of its members. He said a new salary scale for Saudi engineers worked out by the Ministry of Civil Service has already been submitted to the authorities for final approval. The new scale does not only carry financial benefits but also professional advantages, he added. He said the society is working on an organizational structure for the engineering profession, adding that according to his knowledge the Kingdom needs 70 years to become self-sufficient in this field. He said the Kingdom has become one of the largest workshops in the Middle East due to the huge number of projects being carried out in different parts of the country. There has also been an increase in the training provided to Saudi engineers, who account for a quarter of the total number of engineers working in the country. He said the society will hold an extraordinary meeting of its general assembly within the next two weeks to tackle all pending issues concerning the sector.
