JEDDAH, 19 March 2003 — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, officially opens the Saudi Japanese Automobile High Institute (SJAHI) today.
The SR100-million institute, located 25 kilometers from Jeddah on 72,500 square meters of land on the Jeddah-Makkah Road, is a major Saudization project. It had its soft opening last September when 200 high school graduates were accepted as trainees. This year, the institute will run at full capacity as the original 200 students go into their second year and 200 others are accepted for the first year.
“All Japanese car distributing companies who are partners in the project will offer jobs to trainees on their graduation,” Khalid A. Alhamrani, vice president commercial affairs of Alhamrani United Co., told a press conference yesterday.
The company, a member of Alhamrani Group of Companies, will offer jobs to 45 trainees, he said, adding that some of the best ones will be trained as instructors.
“In fact, the course we offer at the institute is a comprehensive one, incorporating language, behavior, attitude and work ethics, aside from automobile technology,” he said.
The project is supported by both the Saudi and Japanese governments.
“The crown prince who donated the land for the project, has overseen its progress since its inception.
The project was launched after the crown prince signed the agreement with the Japanese government in 1998 as a major step toward Saudization,” Alhamrani said.
The SJAHI, as a non-profit venture, could set an example to others in all other fields of business activity to train Saudis, he added. “If distributors of other vehicles, such as American and European, want to train Saudi technicians they should start their own institutes,” he said in reply to a question.
Alhamrani also pointed out that the institute has been a big attraction for high school graduates.
The project is a cooperative effort between the Japanese government represented by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), and the Saudi government represented by the General Organization for Technical Education & Vocational Training (GOTEVOT) and the Japanese Automobile Distributors in the Kingdom (JADIK).
JADIK includes Abdul Latif Jameel Co. (Toyota), Haji Husein Alireza Co. (Mazda), Omar Abubaker Balubaid Co. (Subaru and Daihatsu), Alhamrani United Co. (Nissan) and Suzuki Saudia, a member of Bamarouf Group (Suzuki).
The initial project period is for five years during which SJAHI will graduate three groups of students. The level of the institute is a two-year technical college course after which graduates will be equal to those holding a national license of third grade automobile mechanics in Japan.
During the two-year course, students receive training for regular inspection and routine repair work of passenger and commercial cars. The institute has 24 technical instructors and 15 general education teachers aside from an 18-member administrative staff.
