130,000 firms ‘quit over tough quotas’

RIYADH: Over 130,000 Saudi contractors have shut shop because they cannot meet Saudization quotas, raising various concerns, including completion of projects. Dawud Al-Miqrin, a business development expert, has been quoted by a local publication as saying that these were the statistics for the construction industry. He also claimed that this was now threatening several government projects. The contractors have reportedly blamed the Ministry of Labor for not giving them the visas for foreign workers that would allow them to complete their projects. Representatives of the contracting companies recently met with Minister of Labor Mufrej Al-Haqani and requested the Saudization quota be cut from 10 percent to 3 percent, according to the report. The contractors reportedly said that they had sent several letters to the ministry seeking more visas for foreign workers. -arabnews