Most optimistic figure puts unemployment at 500,000 RIYADH: Adel Fakieh, Minister of Labor, has said he is going to set up a “work team” formed of friends from his personal Facebook page to help tackle the unemployment problem, Al-Hayat Arabic daily reported Monday. Fakieh said that five to 10 persons would be selected from previous contributors to his “Dialogue with the Minister” page, set up specifically to look at unemployment. According to Al-Hayat, the minister set a deadline of four days, starting two days ago Sunday, for persons wishing to declare their candidacy for the team, after which a further four days will be dedicated to the final selection and approval by the minister. “People wishing to join the team should send a short message containing their name, telephone number, as well as a brief resume of qualifications and previous experience,” Fakieh said. Once formed, the team will spend two weeks “analyzing proposals and putting forward recommendations”. Former mayor of Jeddah Adel Fakieh took up the post of Minister of Labor in August this year following the passing away of previous incumbent Ghazi Al-Goseibi, and declared in September a strategy to engage with the public via his page on the popular networking site, asking for a “100-day period” to “familiarize himself with the workings of the ministry” and “review the available studies and information and hear your suggestions” before actively debating with correspondents. After that, he said, he would use his page as a forum for organized discussions. “For the purposes of constructive interaction I will propose each week a subject for debate with you… in the hope that we can all work together as a single team in pursuit of a single goal”. Unemployment has appeared as an issue of singular importance in the new minister's agenda. Last Saturday, addressing members of the business community at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said there were “hundreds of thousands” of young male and female unemployed Saudis. “The most optimistic statistics put the figure at half a million,” he said. Fakieh is not the only minister to have opened a page on Facebook, however. In June 2009 Saudi Gazette reported a chance encounter between a journalist from Al-Watan newspaper and the Minister of Culture and Information Abdul Aziz Khoja on the networking site. Having had his suspicions over the true identity of the page's owner allayed, the reporter proceeded to question Khoja via the site on the purpose of his presence on Facebook. “Being in touch with persons working in the media enables me to get their observations on the work of the ministry and benefit from any idea that might contribute in the improvement of the media and culture sector in the country,” Khoja replied. “Is it not a duty for members of the same family to communicate with each other?” the minister asked rhetorically. The reporter later had the identity of the minister confirmed by official sources and was given permission for his newspaper to publish the Facebook conversation in full, which extended to discussions on the nature of press freedom, the responsibilities of the media, and the role of the ministry.
