RIYADH — Saudi Arabia announced Saudization of professions in the sectors of pharmacy and its specializations and their sales in a phased manner. According to an order issued by Minister of Labor and Social Development Eng. Ahmed Al-Rajhi, the Saudization drive will be implemented in two phases and it will be conducted in partnership with the Ministry of Health. "In the first phase, 20 percent of the employees in the profession will be Saudized by July 22 (1 Dhul Hijjah 1441) while the second phase aims to Saudize 30 percent of the staff as of July 11, 2021 (1 Dhul Hijjah 1442)." This decision will be applied to entities where the number of expatriate workers in the pharmacy profession exceeds five or more. However, there will be an exemption for those pharmacists who are working as "pharmaceutical product marketing specialist" in pharmaceutical companies, as well as drug agents, distributors, and employees in factories for which Saudization decision has already been issued by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor and Social Development and the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) in November 2018. a These ministerial decisions are being implemented as part of the health agreement that was signed in the private sector in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, the Human Resources Development Fund (HADAF), and the Council of Saudi Chambers, which represents the private sector. The agreement aims to Saudize 40,000 jobs in the private health sector, and comes to achieve the goals of the Initiative of Saudization of Professions, which is one of the Labor Ministry's initiatives announced on Sept. 11, 2018 (Muharram 1, 1440) that aims to develop and improve the labor market environment as the ministry will take all necessary measures to ensure the concerned firms' commitment to implement these decisions. The penalty for violating Saudization of those jobs that are restricted to Saudis will be slapped against the firms that violate the decisions in accordance with the rules and regulations. More information about this can be had from the guide available at the ministry's website, the Saudi Press Agency reported quoting the ministry sources.
