By Innovation-sa on February 10, 2019 in News
The Saudi government has allocated 11.5 billion riyals to reimburse a number of companies who struggled to pay steadily increasing expatriate fees in 2017 and 2018 and waive fee hikes for few companies who were not able to pay. The labor minister Ahmed bin Suleiman Al-Rajhi noted that private companies that maintained a higher or equal number of Saudi employees in comparison to expatriate employees will be eligible for the reimbursement or fee waiver.
He expressed hope that the initiative will support private sector companies, help them overcome obstacles and achieve their goals and encourage them to expand employment of Saudi citizens. Companies with a lower number of Saudis versus expat employees will benefit from the initiative only after they hire more locals.
“The decision will have a huge positive impact on the Saudi economy and especially the manpower intensive construction sector, which was the worst hit by the collective invoice”, said Osama Al-Afaliq, head of the Saudi Contractors Association.
Arab News – 10 February 2019