Monday, 23rd February 2004 (4723 views)

The gold industry in Saudi Arabia is to be preserved for domestic workers only, as a government initiative to drive up national employment gets underway.

Reports from AFP suggest that the Saudi government has begun enforcing a decision to keep foreign workers out of the nation's gold jewellery stores.

It is thought the authorities will now begin sending in teams to check the nationality of workers in a bid to drive up employment among Saudis.

The secretary general of the Manpower Council, Abdulwahed al-Humayyed, told AFP that the transition was definitely occurring, but that its success could not yet be judged.

'It is too early to say if the Saudization of the gold sector is proceeding smoothly but the feedback we are getting from the field so far is encouraging,' he commented.

The jewellery sector has had a three-year grace period to implement the changes, enabling Saudis to 'reclaim small businesses'.

The availability of cheap foreign labour has proved profitable for some within the country's gold industry, a trend that now look set to be overturned.

Around 6.5 million foreigners work in Saudi Arabia according to official statistics.

 

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