Women want to invest in telecommunications

RIYADH: A total of 380 Saudi women have expressed their willingness to invest in the telecommunications and mobile industry. The announcement was made by the Ministry of Labor and Social Development on Monday.

According to an official from the ministry, the women have applied for entrepreneurship through a program called “Start Your Small Business” introduced by the National Entrepreneurship Institute. It is carried out by the institute in cooperation with the Saudi Credit and Savings Bank.
The program conducts four training sessions with each one lasting five days. The program aims to tell trainees how they should invest and develop small enterprises which will lead to successful projects.
The training session seeks to give a comprehensive experience to enable the successful trainees to conduct their small businesses in their own ways in the telecommunication and mobile industry.
The program will also help the participants get SR200,000 to encourage them to enter the mobile industry which will in turn help the government reduce the unemployment problem among women in the Kingdom.
The institute receives project funding requests electronically through the website of the institute at www.riyadah.com.sa . The requests will be followed by an oral test and eligible candidates will be selected for training so they they can avail themselves of the other facilities and services.
Those who qualify for training should be between 18 and 60 years of age and should agree to repay the loans given by the respective banks.
The Ministry of Labor recently directed that non-Saudis should not work in the mobile and telecommunications industry in the Kingdom after Sept.2.
Spokesman for the Ministry of Labor Khalid Aba Al Khail said that the rule applied to all expatriates without exception. “We need the sector to be fully Saudized at the beginning of September.”
He said inspection campaigns would be carried out in all sectors in the mobile industry beginning in Ramadan. ” We are very keen to employ our young Saudi men and women in this sector,” he added.
The official said that the ministry would conduct training programs for young Saudi men and women who wish to enter this sector.
The deployment of locals will be carried out by the Labor Ministry in coordination with the Ministries of Commerce and Industry, Municipal and Rural Affairs and Communications and Technology, the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC),the General Organization for Social Insurance and other agencies.
The training program will cover areas such as customer service, sales management, the basics of mobile maintenance and maintenance of advanced mobile phones.
The new plan is to create jobs for Saudi men and women that will give them financial stability and minimize cover-up activities. The decision will be enforced across the country and will include small, medium and large businesses.
The HRDF will provide employment support services to enterprises and job-seekers in the telecommunications industry; the services are accessible at www.taqat.sa. There will also be support provided in paying part of the salaries of the Saudis employed.
The ministry has warned that violators, particularly businesspeople and their employees involved in cover-up businesses, would be subject to heavy penalties.