SAUDI GAZETTE

RIYADH — The General Investment Authority (SAGIA) celebrated honoring the first graduates of its Transformation Pioneers Program (STP) and announced the opening of submissions for the second round last Thursday. STP aimed at training fresh graduates in collaboration with leading international companies.

Governor of SAGIA Eng. Ibrahim bin Abdulrahman Al Omar attended the ceremony.

Faraj Al Monajjam, SAGIA Undersecretary for Back Office Services, said the Authority was proud to launch the second round of its Program for the second year in a row, adding that the STP’s first round achieved great success and offered young Saudis excellent future opportunities. The Program has so far trained 25 fresh graduates, both male and female, who had specialized in different types of engineering, finance, marketing, law, and IT. Al Monajjam noted that the STP was part of the Authority’s plan to provide Saudi youth with opportunities to serve their country in different fields.

Al Monajjam went on to say that the Program will be implemented every year and will be continuously updated to add new skilled members with different specializations to SAGIA’s work team in line with the Authority’s commitment to adopt initiatives that can help achieve Vision 2030. These members will be trained inside the Kingdom and abroad according to a comprehensive plan that covers general and professional skills targeted at better understanding and developing investment opportunities and the international policies linked to them.

He explained that the STP’s activities include on-the-job training courses for transformation pioneers as they work at SAGIA or at international companies outside the Kingdom. The Program extends over nine months and ends with employment at SAGIA.

Graduates expressed their happiness and joy being the first graduates of STP. Abdulmajeed Al Faddaini thanked his family, SAGIA officials and the kingdom for all the trust and support given to the STP graduates and said “I could not be more proud. Now we have completed the first chapter of the program and we are going to USA very soon to be part of the international Baker Hughes company’s family to learn the best practices and transfer them to Saudi Arabia.”

Saja Idrees graduated finance and economics from Boston with said: “It is really feels great to be a part of the first group of STP. It is such an excellent journey. I am so excited about my future with SAGIA.”

Omar Al Sheikh with masters of finance from Madrid, “ It was one of the best moments of my life when I knew that I am accepted in STP. The program truly developed me on various levels and we have become a family. All SAGIA teams were great supporters to me and the rest of STP program gradates.”

Program is open for all Saudi nationals who graduated in 2017 or 2018 with GPA must not be less than 3.0 out of 4 or 4.0 out of 5 and have a good level of English, spoken and written, and a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Industrial engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, civil engineering, biomedical engineering, pharmacy, medical sciences, and finance. Applications can be submitted through the Authority’s website: stp.sagia.gov.sa.

SAGIA recently signed a collaboration agreement with the international company Baker Hughes, a GE company, to train selected graduates participating in the Transformation Pioneers Program. The agreement allows selected participants to be sent to Baker Hughes’ headquarters in the USA and the United Kingdom for a six-month on-the-job direct training. Participants will learn about customer experiences at international companies, a knowledge that is especially important considering that some of the key roles they are expected to take on after their training include attracting international companies to invest and develop investment opportunities in the Kingdom based on these companies’ needs and priorities.