JEDDAH, 17 May 2004 — The general census, scheduled to start on Sept. 15, will be decisive in determining the Kingdom’s economic policy for the next 10 years, according to Economy and Planning Minister Khaled Al-Gosaibi.

After opening a training program for officials taking part in the census, Gosaibi told reporters it would help the government take “important social and economic decisions.”

From now on a census would be conducted every 10 years as is the case in most advanced economies, he said.

Gosaibi claimed the Kingdom’s statistics were “among the best” in the Arab world. He urged the officials to carry out the census “sincerely, efficiently and enthusiastically,” and said the government mobilized all its resources to make the project a success.

Abdullah ibn Suleiman Al-Othaim, director general of the General Statistics Department, said a number of workshops would be conducted as part of the training program.

Othaim said the Kingdom’s unemployment rate was estimated at between 8.1 percent and 9.6 percent according to the department’s studies. The rate was calculated following international criteria, he added, taking into account only the working population.