Car rental sector will be exclusive for Saudi nationals starting from next Sunday

The Ministry of Labor and Social Development emphasized today the nationalization of car rental sector will be enforced starting from Sunday (March 18) in various regions of the Kingdom, which aims at raising the participation of Saudi nationals in the workforce and providing quality solutions that ensure productive and sustainable nationalization. Khaled Abalkhail, spokesman at MLSD, said the occupations which are under the nationalization decision would include accounting, supervision, sales, delivery and shipping. The spokesman pointed out the ministry and its affiliated entities have supported the move in so many fields through offering in-demand training, rehabilitation and e-training programs that prepare the youth in certain sectors via the ‘Doroob’ platform, in addition to providing technical support and incentives for independent business owners. They are also keen to conduct career fairs that meet the needs of employers and job seekers through utilizing the national labor gateway (NLG), offering inspection support and monitoring nationalization decisions in cooperation with the nationalization committees for implementing the ‘target nationalization’ program, Abalkhail added. After the decision comes into effect, the joint inspection teams will penalize violating establishments with fines that are increased by the number of expatriates working in Saudi-exclusive jobs and number of repeated violations, he said as well. Abalkhail urged customers to report labor violations or submit inquires through calling the contact center No. (19911) and using ‘Ma3an lil Rasd’ app on smart phones. Meanwhile, the ministry has recently launched initiatives including ‘the enterprise growth program for supporting nationalization’, ‘the telework program’, ‘the freelance program’, ‘the nationalization program for regions’, the part-time job program’, in addition to the ‘activity correction’ campaign and ‘the updated edition of the Nitaqat program in order to enhance the participation of Saudi nationals in the labor market.