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Saudi Arabia to Start Supporting Private Sector Employees

Saudi Arabia to Start Supporting Private Sector Employees
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Saudi Arabia to Start Supporting Private Sector Employees

Saudi Arabia to Start Supporting Private Sector Employees

The Human Resources Development Fund (HADAF) announced the activation of a special initiative aimed at supporting Saudi private sector employees.

The initiative will benefit more than 80,000 Saudi men and women working in the private sector, specifically those who have been employed since the beginning of July 2019 and have not received any support from HADAF so far.

In a statement, HADAF called on private sector institutions to register online to take advantage of the initiative.

It added that the initiative fell within the framework of programs launched by the Fund as part of government support initiatives to ensure the stability of private sector enterprises, in light of the current economic situation that was impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.

According to the statement, HADAF has dedicated SR1 billion ($266 million) to support Saudis, who were employed in the private sector after July 1, 2019 and are receiving a salary ranging between SR4,000 and SR15,000.

The employees should not have previously benefited from the Fund’s employment support programs.

In parallel, HADAF announced on Monday that the value of projects proposed for competition by establishments in the “Forsa” platform has exceeded SR526 million since the launch of the platform in August 2016.

The platform is an electronic service that provides business establishments with the ability to compete for direct purchasing orders offered by government companies and major entities in the private sector.

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China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
TT
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China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to citizens of nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy.
Starting Nov. 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
That will bring to 38 the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year. Only three countries had visa-free access previously, and theirs had been eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The permitted length of stay for visa-free entry is being increased from the previous 15 days, Lin said, and people participating in exchanges will be eligible for the first time. China has been pushing people-to-people exchange between students, academics and others to try to improve its sometimes strained relations with other countries, The Associated Press reported.
China strictly restricted entry during the pandemic and ended its restrictions much later than most other countries. It restored the previous visa-free access for citizens of Brunei and Singapore in July 2023, and then expanded visa-free entry to six more countries — France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia — on Dec. 1 of last year.
The program has since been expanded in tranches. Some countries have announced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, notably Thailand, which wants to bring back Chinese tourists.
For the three months from July through September this year, China recorded 8.2 million entries by foreigners, of which 4.9 million were visa-free, the official Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a Foreign Ministry consular official.