Saudi Arabia to reduce reliance on foreign workers

Saudi Arabia to reduce reliance on foreign workers

Saudi Arabia has announced plans to reduce its reliance on foreign workers by recruiting only highly-technical workers and monitoring investments closely, reports Arab News. “The Kingdom will now be more selective in hiring foreign workers,” said Ibrahim Al-Assaf, finance minister, while giving highlights of the annual budget announced by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman here Monday. Al-Assaf said that the Kingdom had made substantial progress in training and absorbing qualified Saudi professionals and workers in different sectors. “Hence, the plan to reduce its reliance on overseas workers is quite logical,” said the minister, while pledging to facilitate implementation and completion all “projects in the pipeline like Riyadh Metro and other mega transport projects.” To this end, he said that the government has announced several measures to meet the financial shortfall because of the falling oil prices. He, at the same time, allayed fears of expatriates and rejected rumors, saying that the Kingdom has no plans to introduce individual income tax in the country. There is no intention and no plans to impose taxes on the income of expatriates. The Kingdom is home for over 10 million foreign workers.