By Abdurahman Al-Misbahi

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The government will bear a maximum amount of around SR29.75 billion toward the expatriate fees in industrial sector for a period of five years.

The government recently took this decision as part of the short-term urgent solutions to stimulate industrial investments in order to achieve the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 as well as making the best use of the potentials and laying down the mechanisms to increase the volume of investments and the ensuing exports.

The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has been directed to lay down the required criteria for this, in coordination with the ministries of finance and labor and social development.

Okaz/Saudi Gazette learned that the total number of non-Saudis working in the manufacturing sector account for 644,590, and these include 628,000 men and 16,273 women.

The number of non-Saudi workers who come under the category with an expatriate fee of SR800 per month stood at 444,946. The total amount of levy for them for the next 5 years is about SR21.36 billion.

While the number of workers, whose fees amounting to SR700 per month, is 199,644 and the total value of the fee to be imposed for them is about SR8.39 billion. Both these amount to a total of 29.75 billion.

Non-Saudi workers in the downstream industries sector represent 9.68 percent of the total work force in the industrial sector.

The total number of workers, excluding domestic workers, accounts for 6.66 million Saudis and expatriates in the Kingdom.