Headline March 29, 2018/ ''' *SAUDI ARABIA'S SUNFLOWERS* '''

''' *SAUDI ARABIA'S SUNFLOWERS* '''

SAUDI ARABIA'S CROWN PRINCE Mohammed bin Salman met the head of the Anglican church in London just three Thursdays ago-

Promising to promote interfaith dialogues as part of his domestic reforms, the  British faith leader's office said.

Prince Mohammed was on an official visit to London to promote Saudi Arabia as a tolerant, modernising economy and build a wider new trade and investment relationship with Britain - a long term defence and security ally.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion of millions of Christians globally, received the crown prince at Lambeth Palace in central London, where the two talked for an hour.

''The Crown Prince made a strong commitment to promote the flourishing of those different faith traditions, and to interfaith dialogue within the Kingdom and beyond.''

''The Archbishop shared his concern about limits placed on Christian worship in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and highlighted the importance for leaders of all faiths to support freedom of religion or belief, drawing on the experience of U.K.''

SAUDIZATION is a part of major retooling of the Kingdom's lagging oil economy, aimed at jump starting private sector jobs in order to - wean citizens of government largasse and decrease the public wage bill.

Saudi media frequently laud a new crop nationals who are for the first time working as car mechanics, Uber drivers and gas station workers, jobs that were long deemed worthy only for blue -collar foreign workers.

Some observers liken the Saudi struggle to adapt to an age of austerity to that of an obese man, disfigured from decades of gluttony and idleness, who is forced to join a crash diet.

But adapt it must -

In a country, where half the population is under 25, government statistics show the youth unemployment rate hovers around 40 percent - a potential powder keg.

Nearly two-thirds of all Saudis are employed by the government, and the public sector wage bill and allowances account for roughly half of all government expenditure.
 
Authorities are seeking to change that and rein in its  ballooning budgetary deficit by expanding Saudization across multiple sectors.

In January the government added vendors of auto parts, electronic appliances, medical equipment and home furniture to its growing list of Saudi-only jobs - despite warnings the move could decimate business.

The pro-government Okaz newspaper has reported that multiple car rental outlets have shutdown in Riyadh as the government starts Saudization of the sector this week.

The policy, along with a hike in expat levies and fees for dependents, have triggered an exodus of  foreign workers - who make up a third of the population - from the once tax-free haven.

Government statistics show that more than 300,000 blue-collar workers lost jobs in Saudi Arabia in the first nine months of 2017 alone.

'Fake Saudization' : The Saudi labour ministry, which has stepped up vocational training programmes, did not respond to request for comment. 

Saudization has stirred heated debates on social media, with supporters of the policy demanding a  fair chance  to compete with  non-Saudis while bitterly attacking online job postings that seek skilled workers from South Asia and elsewhere.

But aggressive Saudization is not driving down joblessness among nationals, experts say, despite government assurances that it will create thousands of jobs.

''It will take a decade or more to culturally shift the Saudi Labour force to create a working class of Saudis willing to do service sector. retail and construction jobs,''  said Karen Young, a scholar at the  Arab Gulf States Institute on Washington. 

The government's ambitious quota scheme requires companies to meet a certain Saudization  percentage in their workforce in exchange for government incentives.

To fill their quotas, some companies hire Saudis and pay them small salaries to stay home, in effect create fake jobs, business owners and experts say.

''Employers say young Saudi men and women are lazy and not interested in working,'' columnist Mohammed Bassnawi wrote in Saudi Gazette newspaper in December, demanding an end to ''Fake Saudization''.

''The solution to unemployment does not lie in Saudization......We first have to change the perception that young Saudi men and women have about work.''

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