Your editorial of Nov. 16 (Saudization — work in progress), which is of the view that the key issue with regards to lack of Saudization is money i.e. the cost difference of employing a Saudi national vis-a-vis an expatriate. This may be true in some sectors such as the laundry where money is not the impeding factor in Saudization. Many Saudis who are sent by Labor Office for jobs never take up offers in a laundry business.
They don’t even ask as to what is the offered salary. Laundry is a labor-intensive business. Although our company is in the Green Category, we have about 100 expatriates in excess of the Saudi nationals. This would mean that our company might have to pay SR 240,000 every year. After paying such a huge amount in fees our Laundry Division won’t be generating a decent returns for the shareholders.
Hence we would be left with no option but to treat this fees as a value-added tax (VAT) and recover the same from the customers. The same may be true of other labor-intensive sectors such as construction and contracting business.
I am doubtful that a fee would have the desired effect on Saudization in these sectors. A fee should be applied sector-wise after a comprehensive study of all the sectors, taking into account the ground realities, to avoid negative inflationary effects on the economy. — Omprakash Tiwari, Riyadh
