Saudi needs more skilled RI workers

JAKARTA (JP): Crisis-stricken Indonesia has a golden opportunity to supply, if it can, as many as six million skilled workers to be employed in various sectors in Saudi Arabia, according to an official of a Saudi Arabian labor recruitment agency.

Waleed A. Al-Swaidan, the chairman of the official Saudi Arabian National Recruitment Committee (Sanarcom), told reporters here on Wednesday that millions of job opportunities offering attractive remuneration were open for foreign skilled workers in his country.

"If Indonesia is able to supply around 500,000 workers every month for the next year, Saudi Arabia will be able to employ them on decent salaries," he said.

He said thousands of companies in numerous sectors, including mining, hospitals, hotels, electronic, agribusiness, construction and service, required semiskilled and skilled workers, such as nurses, baby-sitters, wielders, machine operators, drivers and middle-ranking managers.

Swaidan said remuneration in the formal sector in his country was regulated by the government and that monthly wages for semiskilled workers ranged between 1,000 real (US$185) and 4,000 reals, depending on the person's skills and experience.

Saudi Arabia's current average per capita income was around US$24,000, he added.

Waleed, who received an award from the Indonesian government last year for his contribution to enhancing labor cooperation between the two countries, called on Indonesia to educate and train people who had just lost their jobs because of the crisis, and send them to the Middle East.

"Frankly speaking, Saudi Arabia prefers Indonesian workers than those from other foreign countries because, besides enhancing solidarity among members of Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), the predominantly Moslem Indonesia is facing an economic crisis and high unemployment rate," he said.

He said only 2 percent to 3 percent of the approximately seven million foreign workers in Saudi Arabia were Indonesian, most of whom were in the informal sector.

The Association of Indonesian Labor Export Companies (Apjati) said on Wednesday it would enhance cooperation with labor agencies, the Association of Indonesian Employers (Apindo) and the government to collect data on workers in all sectors and train and supply semiskilled and skilled workers to Saudi Arabia.

Adullah Umar, Apjati's chairman, said that the cooperation was needed to help compile accurate data on Indonesian workers.

"At least, we will have data on dismissed workers in the banking, electronic and hotels sectors and those who have yet to get any jobs can be trained and sent to Saudi Arabia," he said. (rms)