Saudi to create more jobs for locals

Saudi Arabia aims to create three million new job opportunities in the upcoming few years and six million by 2030 for locals, Al Riyadh newspaper reported Saturday. The Labor Ministry announced earlier that Saudi Arabia recruits half million expatriates annually and the unemployment rate among Saudis is around 12 percent. The newspaper noted that most of the new jobs will be created in the private sector. In a review, the Kuwait-based Global Investment House, a regional investment company, said the rise in jobless rate among Saudis has motivated the Labor Ministry to launch various measures to encourage hiring locals, such as the levy on foreign companies with less than 50 percent of local manpower.