The Saudi Labor Market Exhibition kicked off Saturday with the signing of a contract to provide training and jobs for 1,588 young Saudi men and women in different sectors at a cost of SR51 million. The contracts were negotiated and signed between the Human Resources Fund (HRF) in Makkah and 17 private companies. Over 50 national companies are taking part in the four-day exhibition, which was inaugurated by Prince Misha'l Bin Majed Bin Abdul Aziz, Governor of Jeddah. The brainchild of the 10-year-old Saudization program, the exhibition introduces the efforts of national companies to employ young Saudis, said Lama Al-Sulaiman, vice president of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI). The JCCI is the body responsible for organizing the event, she said. The exhibition is supported by national companies with a sense of social responsibility, said Abdullah Bin Mahfouz, a JCCI board member. Organized for the second year in a row, the exhibition offers job-seekers the opportunity to meet with company leaders to discuss their future careers and chances of success, he added. Makkah's Human Resources Fund has signed 117 contracts with private companies since the beginning of the year to train and employ 3,621 young Saudis at a total cost of over SR125 million, said Hisham Lanjawi, head of the HRF. The Ministry of Labor has embraced the exhibition as an attempt to boost job creation by private companies, said Qusai Al-Filali, head of the Labor Office in Jeddah. “The office carries out routine visits to private companies in the city to make sure they are employing Saudis,” he said. “There is just no escape from employing Saudis.” The exhibition at the Jeddah International Exhibition and Convention Center on Madina Road receives visitors from 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. and from 5 P.M to 10 P.M.
