(AFP, Jeddah) - The government of Saudi Arabia is setting up a fund to encourage private firms to employ Saudi nationals, Information Minister Fuad bin Abdel Salam al-Faresi said Monday.
"The government has backed the establishment of a fund to develop human resources and find employment in the private sector for the national workforce," Faresi said after the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by King Fahd in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.
The minister gave no details about the size of the fund nor the number of people it would serve. The government has long sought to encourage Saudi nationals to work in the private sector to replace a large foreign workforce, but the wages are lower and hours longer than in government jobs.
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