Pakistan seeks to send more workers to Saudi Arabia

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Jawad Sohrab Malik held a meeting with Saudi Arabian Ambassador Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki to discuss the emerging manpower opportunities for the Saudi Vision 2030.

Malik requested the envoy to employ a significant number of workers from Pakistan for meeting goals of the Vision 2030, according to a statement issued on Saturday.

“Currently, about 500,000 Pakistanis proceed to Saudi Arabia annually. There is a real prospect of this figure rising to over 1 million,” he stressed.

He was of the view that a mix of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled manpower from Pakistan enabled Saudi Arabia to meet its diverse workforce needs effectively.

SAPM underlined Pakistan’s capacity to provide over 1 million workers with varying skills for employment on positions created under the Vision 2030, according to which the Saudi economy was diversifying and embracing further areas.

He apprised the ambassador of the government’s efforts to build a skilled labour force pool in order to tap the huge youth potential in areas of digitisation, services and tourism.

Malik praised the kingdom for extending consistent and resolute support to Pakistan on various economic, strategic and bilateral issues.

The Saudi envoy expressed support for the proposal of enhancing the share of Pakistan’s manpower resources.

Both sides agreed to hold further deliberations on the prospects of new employment opportunities for Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia through the forthcoming meeting between the SAPM and Saudi labour minister and other high-ranking officials of the kingdom.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2023.

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