Who’s Who: Zaina Al-Hejin, head of communication at Boeing Saudi Arabia
Updated 21 March 2024
Arab News
Zaina Al-Hejin has been head of communication at Boeing Saudi Arabia since May 2023.
She is responsible for developing and implementing an integrated strategic communication plan, supporting Boeing executives, and overseeing the company’s global engagement communication in Saudi Arabia.
Prior to this role, Al-Hejin served as Boeing’s associate director for government relations from 2019 to 2023. She was responsible for leading the Boeing Global Engagement efforts in supporting local non-profit organizations and communities in Saudi Arabia. She engaged stakeholders to open up new opportunities and solidify the company’s position as a long-term partner in the Kingdom.
In addition to her professional experience at Boeing Saudi Arabia, she held the position of senior project manager at the Misk Foundation from 2017 to 2019. She was responsible for developing outreach strategies linking talented individuals with universities and schools, and overseeing events for the non-profit organization.
Al-Hejin has also worked at the Ministry of Labour as a senior project associate, where she structured business plans and regulated implementation and rollouts.
She has a certification from the Project Management Institute; and three years of research experience at King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh from 2009 until 2011.
She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Baruch College in New York. She earned a master’s degree in information technology, management and organizational change from Lancaster University in the UK, where she also received a doctorate in work, organization and technology in 2013.
Saudi Arabia announces new national policy to eliminate forced labor
Osama Ghanem Alobaidy: This policy adopted by the Kingdom will ensure the protection of persons living or working in the Kingdom and create a safe working environment
Sattam Alharbi: It demonstrates our collective commitment to creating a safe environment for everyone living and working in our country, ensuring their rights are protected
Updated 58 min 6 sec ago
Lama Alhamawi
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has introduced its National Policy for the Elimination of Forced Labor, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development announced.
“This policy adopted by the Kingdom will ensure the protection of persons living or working in the Kingdom and create a safe working environment,” Osama Ghanem Alobaidy, adviser and professor of law at the Institute of Public Administration in Riyadh, told Arab News.
In 2021, Saudi Arabia, became the first GCC country to ratify the International Labour Organization’s Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, bringing it in line with international standards to eliminate forced labor.
“This shows the Kingdom’s commitment to improve and protect the rights of individuals living or working in the Kingdom,” Alobaidy said.
The newly introduced policy aims to eliminate forced labor through prevention and protection measures.
According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, it will also strengthen national, regional and international coordination to integrate better efforts to combat forced labor.
Deputy Minister for Control and Development of the Work Environment Sattam Alharbi said: “The introduction of the National Policy for the Elimination of Forced Labor is an important milestone for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“It demonstrates our collective commitment to creating a safe environment for everyone living and working in our country, ensuring their rights are protected,” Alharbi said.
“The introduction of the national policy also builds on our ongoing work to safeguard employees’ rights, in collaboration with global and local partners.”
The national policy also includes victim-focused initiatives that will enhance care, support and access to justice.
It will support the implementation of measures to provide legal, social and economic support for forced labor victims, aiding their recovery and protecting against the risk of re-victimization.
This new policy is not the first of its kind for the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia has been implementing multiple measures to protect the rights of its workforce.
“The Kingdom already has a set of laws, rules and regulations addressing this matter even before the adoption of this policy,” Alobaidy said.
In October of 2024, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development and the Insurance Authority launched an insurance service that would cover unpaid wages for up to six months and provide travel assistance for expatriates in the Kingdom in the case of private-sector defaults.
Alobaidy highlighted the multiple laws that the Kingdom has put in place to protect the workforce: “The law on trafficking of persons and the labor laws for example and regulations prohibit any forms of forced labor.”
Elaborating on Saudi Arabia’s decision to ratify the International Labour Organization’s Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, the professor said: “It is also commendable that the Kingdom took the lead among GCC countries in ratifying the protocol to the forced labor convention to eliminate forced labor.”
“The Kingdom’s adoption of this policy is welcome news to persons working or living in the Kingdom since it will ensure greater protection of their rights,” he said.
“This will enhance the work environment in the Kingdom in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 objectives,” Alobaidy said.
Saudi Arabia expected to be among top tourism destinations by 2030, minister says
Updated 22 January 2025
Dalal Awienat
DAVOS: Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb said tourism accommodation in the Kingdom was expected to double over the next 10 years.
Al-Khateeb said Saudi Arabia, which has about 400,000 guest rooms at the moment, was projected to double that number to 800,000 by 2030.
The minister reiterated Saudi Arabia’s goal to be part of the world’s top seven tourism destinations by 2030.
“Saudi looks at why people travel and what they are looking for and understand what people want and focus on convenience,” he said.
The Kingdom’s tourism industry is growing at a rapid rate with the creation of mega-projects such as NEOM, a futuristic city on the Red Sea, and The Red Sea Project, which focuses on luxury and eco-tourism, expected to redefine global tourism standards.
Additionally, cultural landmarks such as AlUla, with its ancient Nabatean heritage, and Diriyah, the birthplace of the Saudi state, are undergoing significant restoration to offer visitors unique historical and cultural experiences.
When asked about how the Kingdom manages this growth, the minister said that governance in the Kingdom ensured coordination and that growth was not too rapid.
“There is no such thing as ‘over-tourism,’ but there is mismanagement of resources,” he said.
“Governments are taking tourism for granted. In Saudi we have a minister for tourism and a minister for culture. Having separate ones allows full focus and dedication on goal achieving,” Al-Khateeb added.
European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas said Saudi Arabia was setting an example for the EU in managing tourism and developing a strong travel industry.
With technology advancing rapidly, Al-Khateeb said it was important to use new innovations smartly in the tourism sector.
“This is a people-to-people business. Yes, we should use technology for ease and convenience, but people interaction is an essential part of the experience,” he said.
Saudi Arabia sends new aid convoys for residents returning to northern Gaza
The assistance is part of a campaign aimed at providing essential relief to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip
Updated 22 January 2025
Arab News
RIYADH: New aid convoys from Saudi Arabia have arrived in northern Gaza, facilitated by the Saudi aid agency KSrelief.
The assistance is part of a campaign aimed at providing essential relief to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the Saudi Press Agency reported recently.
The convoys delivered shelter kits, including blankets, mattresses, cooking utensils, water containers and other necessary supplies to assist residents returning to their homes in northern Gaza.
The Saudi Center for Culture and Heritage, the executive partner of KSrelief in Gaza, began distributing these aid packages promptly.
The aid aims to help beneficiaries meet their basic needs as they return to homes that have been destroyed or damaged, SPA reported.
The effort is part of a series of humanitarian and relief programs executed by Saudi Arabia in solidarity with the Palestinian people during their ongoing hardships.
Saudi Arabia’s FM announces landmark visit to Lebanon
The one-day trip on Thursday will mark the first visit by a high-ranking Saudi official to Lebanon since 2015
Prince Faisal bin Farhan welcomed the potential formation of a new government but emphasized the need for real reforms
Updated 21 January 2025
DANIEL FOUNTAIN
DAVOS: Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Tuesday in Davos he would visit Lebanon later this week, the first such trip by a Saudi foreign minister in more than a decade.
He made the announcement during a panel on diplomacy at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in the Swiss resort town.
The one-day trip on Thursday will mark the first visit by a high-ranking Saudi official to Lebanon since 2015, after years of strained relations due to Lebanon’s perceived alignment with Iran, its role in drug smuggling to Gulf countries, and ongoing instability.
Prince Faisal described the recent election of a president in Lebanon, following a prolonged political vacuum, as a highly positive development.
He said the Kingdom welcomed the potential formation of a government but emphasized the need for real reforms and a forward-looking approach to ensure sustainable progress.
He reiterated that the future of Lebanon rested in the hands of its people, urging them to make decisions that steer the country in a new direction.
A UN peacekeeper’s (UNIFIL) vehicle rides along a street in Marjaayoun, Southern Lebanon January 20, 2025. (AFP)
“We will need to see real action, real reform and we will need to see a commitment to a Lebanon that is looking to the future, not to the past,” said Prince Faisal.
“And based on what I hear there and what we see, I think that will inform the Kingdom’s approach, but I have to say what I’ve seen so far and the conversations that we’ve been hearing in Lebanon, all allow me to be very much optimistic.
“We’ve always said, it’s really up to the Lebanese to decide and to make the choices to take Lebanon in a different direction.”
Prince Faisal also said he is “cautiously optimistic” about Syria’s future, citing encouraging signs from the new administration in Damascus and the resilience of the Syrian people.
He emphasized the need for patience and engagement from both the regional and international communities to help rebuild the country’s broken institutions and create a better future for Syrians.
“I would certainly say I’m cautiously optimistic. I may even lean further because you have, first of all, an administration that is saying the right things in private and in public, doing a lot of the right things, but also you have a Syrian people that are incredibly capable and incredibly resourceful,” he said.
He urged collaboration to build on recent positive developments, underlining the collective responsibility to aid Syria’s recovery, especially considering the willingness of the new administration in Damascus to engage constructively with regional and global partners.
“The reality is that they have inherited a broken country with no real institutions and they are having to build all of that from scratch, and that’s not an easy thing,” he said.
“So it’s up to us, I feel in the region first but certainly the international community, to engage, to come and build on this positive development and help Syria and the Syrian people see a much better future.”
Prince Faisal highlighted the importance of lifting the heavy burden of sanctions imposed due to actions of the previous regime, noting some progress with waivers from the US and Europe.
A boy carrying stacks of bread on his head walks past a damaged school in Aleppo, Syria January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Prince Faisal was also positive about the region as a whole, including the Kingdom.
“We are certainly in a region that is abundant with risk factors, but we are also in a region that has huge potential,” he told the panel.
“I would say that even with the very difficult year behind us, we have shown that we can be resilient as a region and we can actually look to the future, whether it’s the Kingdom, or the GCC countries, and their ability to stay on track with their economic agendas,” he added.
He stressed the importance of avoiding conflict, particularly in light of tensions between Iran and Israel, and expressed optimism regarding the new US administration under President Donald Trump.
“I don’t see the incoming US administration as contributory to the risk of war. On the contrary, I think President Trump has been quite clear that he does not favor conflict,” he said.
“I hope that the approach will also be met on the Iranian side by the addressing of the nuclear program, by being willing to engage with the incoming administration in a way that can help us stay on track with this positive momentum.”
Also on the panel was Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar, who expressed hope that the ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas would bring much needed relief to the Palestinian people.
Qatar’s PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani speaks with WEF President and CEO Borge Brende during the annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2025. (AFP)
“Let’s be hopeful (about the ceasefire). It’s still a long way to go with what happened throughout the last 15 months negotiating this very difficult conflict,” he said.
“It showed us that everything can be resolved through talks and through engagement, through negotiations, and we started this week with good news.
“We have seen the humanitarian aid coming in, we have seen hostages going back and we hope that this will be a fair system toward stability now.”
Saudi deputy minister meets newly appointed Bangladesh ambassador
Al-Sati wished the ambassador success in his new role
Updated 21 January 2025
Arab News
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Saud Al-Sati met with the newly-appointed Ambassador of Bangladesh to the Kingdom Delwar Hossain in Riyadh on Tuesday.
Al-Sati wished the ambassador success in his new role, the Foreign Ministry posted on X.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister for International Multilateral Affairs Abdulrahman Al-Rassi received Ambassador of Ukraine to the Kingdom Anatolii Petrenko in Riyadh on Tuesday.
During the meeting they discussed bilateral relations and topics of common interest.
