KSA agrees to increase Pakistan's labour quota for multi-billion dollar project

• Pakistan will witness a steady demand for labour from the Kingdom once Musaned is connected to Pakistan’s online job portal.
• Just days ago, Pakistan government formally requested Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to enhance the quota of Pakistani workforce in multi-billion dollars’ project of New Taif City.

Special assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and human-resource development, Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari, has informed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has agreed to increase the quota of Pakistani manpower for its mega project.

The development comes after the Pakistan government formally requested Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to enhance the quota of Pakistani workforce in multi-billion dollars’ project of New Taif City.

“He [The Saudi labour minister] has agreed and promised to set up a proper mechanism for this. The Saudi labour minister told me that Pakistani manpower will play a big part in the project, and that his leadership also asked for this,” said Bukhari, quoted Arab News.

Under the New Taif City project a new airport would be built, alongside developing Okaz City, establishing technical oasis, residential areas, university and industrial city.

The advisor informed that both the countries have formed working groups to develop procedures for this transfer of manpower. “The working group will first connect the (online recruitment) portals and then we will have numbers to process the manpower,” said Bukhari.

The official said Saudi Arabia had also extended an offer for Pakistani manpower’s export through ‘Musaned’- a digital platform launched by Saudi Arabia to facilitate labourer recruitment process and ensure their rights protection.

The advisor said that Pakistan will witness a steady demand for labour from the Kingdom once the platform is connected to Pakistan’s online job portal.