Business & Money | Wednesday 12 August, 2015 5:21 am |

The Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) has signed agreements with 23 universities in the Kingdom to help graduates find jobs in the local market, thanks to the initiative by the Ministries of Labor and Education. 

Ibrahim Al-Moaiqel, director general of HRDF, signed the accords with the representatives of the universities in the presence of Labor Minister Mufarej Al-Haqabani and Education Minister Azzam Al-Dakhil recently. 

An official from the Ministry of Labor said the idea is to harmonize the educational programs of the universities with the requirements of the Saudi labor market which would pave the way for young graduates to find employment in the private sector. 

Under the program, he said, the skills of the undergraduates will be honed through short-term courses during summer and encourage them to participate in the national program. 

Sahl bin Nashaat Abdel Jawad, vice chancellor of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Research, said such a program was a long felt need for the benefit of the Saudi youth.

Mahroos Bin Ahmed Gabban, deputy chancellor of Taibah University for Development and Quality, said the agreement will bridge the gap between universities and the local labor market .

The establishment of the HRDF, with its legal and administratively and financially independent statuS, was to intensify Saudization in the private sector. It is one of the effective mechanisms to train and prepare male and female Saudis to take up jobs in the private sector. 

The HRDF has been given the responsibilities that have been drawn from Resolution No. 107 of the Council of Minister, dated July 2000, and in the Royal Decree No. 18M, dated on August 2000. It was decided that the Fund will be a legal entity that enjoys administrative and financial independence. This status will enable those who run it to translate the policies of the government into reality; and they are supposed to do this by offering the essential knowledge and skills, which will help them to get jobs in the private sector to Saudi youths. 

The HRDF continues to invest in state of the art information and communication technologies to develop skills of the national work force in the Kingdom for public and private sector employment purposes.