RIYADH — Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) launched on Wednesday the Skill Verification Program (SVP) in Sri Lanka as part of a scheme to attract more skilled workers from that country. Five professions, such as plumber, electrician, refrigeration/air conditioning technician, automobile mechanic and automobile electrician, were selected for skill testing in the first phase of the external track of the program, which is being implemented under the Ministry's Professional Accreditation Program. The Ministry has launched the program in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. It introduced SVP in July 2021 as part of regulating its labor market in the best possible manner. The first phase of the SVP aims to verify the skills of workers in five specializations out of 23 specializations targeted by the Ministry, with the aim of improving the quality of professional manpower in the Saudi labor market and raising the level of professionalism. The aim is also to enhance productivity, and halt the flow of unqualified professional labor into the Kingdom's labor market. The SVP's objective is to verify that workers in the targeted professions possess the necessary skills through two tracks —internal and international. The first track aims to examine the skills of professional workers currently in the Kingdom and that is in cooperation with local examination centers. The second track aims to examine professional labor before their arrival, and that is in cooperation with a number of accredited international examination centers.
