Pakistan seeks larger job quota in Saudi Arabia's NEOM business zone

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resources Sajid Hussain Turi met the Saudi envoy in Islamabad on Wednesday and discussed job opportunities for Pakistanis in the kingdom's NEOM City Project, a $500 billion flagship business zone aimed at diversifying the economy of the world’s largest oil exporter.

NEOM is part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and aims to transform more than 26,500 sq. km in the kingdom’s northwestern Tabuk region. The zero-carbon city is expected to be ready to receive tourists and investors by 2024.

Saudi Arabia is home to over two million Pakistani expatriates and is the single largest remittance source to the South Asian nation.

“Federal Minister discussed issues and opportunities for creating jobs for Overseas Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia,” the ministry of overseas Pakistanis said in a statement. “Federal Minister emphasized ensuring the Pakistani quota in the workforce for the development of the futuristic NEOM City Project in Saudi Arabia.”

“As we are a developing country so the criteria for Pakistanis should be more open towards skilled and unskilled labour to accommodate more and more Pakistanis in diverse jobs in the multi-billion project,” the statement read.

Pakistan is hoping to benefit from Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiative — am ambitious economic reform program expected to create millions of jobs in the Kingdom — by building its workforce’s professional skills.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, on his first foreign trip since assuming the top political office of his country last month, visited Saudi Arabia from April 27 to 29 and discussed enhancing the kingdom's $3 billion deposit in Pakistan’s central bank “through term extension or otherwise.”

Saudi Arabia last year deposited $3 billion in Pakistan’s central bank to help support its foreign reserves.