The Shura Council issued a resolution calling on the Real Estate Development Fund to expand its program to reduce profits from real estate financing.

In its 12th regular session of the first year of the ninth term, chaired by the Vice President of the Council, Dr. Meshaal Al-Sulami, the Council called on the Fund to provide appropriate solutions to develop the self-build product to achieve its objectives, and to coordinate with the Central Bank and relevant authorities to study the rescheduling of real estate loans after the borrower is referred to retirement according to his retirement salary, and to coordinate with the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing to encourage the adoption of modern building methods.

The Council issued a resolution regarding the contents of the annual report of King Abdulaziz University for the academic year 1444 AH, in which it called on King Abdulaziz University to develop a comprehensive plan to enhance cooperation with local and regional universities, increase the efficiency of existing international partnerships, and enhance its international presence in the field of open education, through expanding the provision of digital educational programs that rely on digital innovation and modern technologies, and enhancing funding for research activities to achieve higher ambitions in the field of marketing patents and turning them into commercial products.

The council issued a resolution calling on King Khalid University to diversify its revenue sources and expand its investments in order to achieve its financial sustainability and support its future aspirations, and to coordinate with relevant authorities to support its efforts in improving the scientific research and innovation system at the university, and to market patents commercially.

The council discussed the annual report of the Human Resources Development Fund, and council member Dr. Abdullah Al-Waqdani asked the fund to study the reasons why national workforce training facilities have not applied for funding, as well as technical and administrative advice from the fund. Council member Dr. Rashid Al-Sharif called on the fund to make efforts to adopt effective administrative solutions in order to overcome the challenges facing the fund.

The council discussed the annual report of the Cultural Development Fund for the fiscal year 1444/1445 AH, and council member Dr. Bushra Al-Hammad inquired about the establishments operating in the cultural sector that benefited from the guarantees program, which is one of the programs of the Cultural Development Fund.

Council member Dr. Abdullah Omar Al-Najjar called on the Human Resources Development Fund to coordinate with relevant authorities to intensify efforts to enable sustainable employment for young Saudi men and women, especially in critical professions, to reduce and limit occupational exposure.

In his remarks on the Human Resources Development Fund's report, Al-Najjar considered unemployment a major concern at both the global and local levels, as it is a phenomenon present in every society. He pointed out that the General Authority for Statistics, through its Labor Market Bulletin for the second quarter of 2024, confirmed a decrease in the unemployment rate among Saudis to 3.3% in that quarter. This means that these rates are approaching the natural unemployment rates targeted by Vision 2030, which range between 7.00% and 4.00%. Al-Najjar commended the Human Resources Development Fund's role in this decrease through its new strategy (the sectoral strategy) and its development initiatives that align with the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030. These initiatives are also consistent with the National Development Fund's objectives of increasing employment rates for Saudis, developing the private sector, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), contributing to improving the productivity of the Saudi economy, and the Fund's commitment to building and providing effective and sustainable strategic partnerships with all economic sectors in the Kingdom.

He pointed out that the recommendation to localize and replace expatriate workers with national manpower is general and not strategic, and does not address the actual problem that needs to be solved in the subject of replacement or localization, since one of the goals is to enable sustainable employment in the private sector for high-risk beneficiary categories. However, the actual reality confirms that the Fund supports replacement and localization in sectors where the nature of the work is (temporary station) for job seekers from young Saudis (of both genders), such as the profession of salesman, cashier, or worker in a restaurant or cafe… and so on, while the strategy to enable sustainable jobs, or critical professions (such as nursing, in which the number of non-Saudis is more than 70%) is absent.

Dr. Fahd Al-Takhaifi, a member of the Shura Council, called on the Human Resources Development Fund to develop initiatives and programs to improve the efficiency of national workforce training facilities, and to develop effective mechanisms to make labor market observatory data available to beneficiaries in order to support decision-making.

Council member Dr. Hassan Hijab Al-Hazmi argued that the strategic objectives presented by the Fund in its report were unclear, and that they were formulated in a literary and poetic language that is not appropriate for objectives that are supposed to be clear, direct, and understandable, enabling the targeted entity’s own staff to understand them and work towards achieving them, and enabling others to understand them and measure the indicators of what has been achieved. Al-Hazmi suggested that the Shura Council discuss this with the Fund and request that the strategic objectives be reformulated in a clearer, more understandable, and measurable manner.

Al-Najjar: Empower young people with critical professions to reduce vulnerability

Al-Maliki to the Cultural Fund: Activate workshops and promote your services

Shura Council member, Engineer Abdulaziz Al-Maliki, called on the Cultural Development Fund to hold workshops in all regions of the Kingdom, given the rich cultural resources in each region, in accordance with its characteristics and relative advantages. He also called for coordination with the relevant authorities to invite all beneficiaries in those regions to attend these workshops to introduce the Fund’s services, programs, and the 16 cultural sectors it supports.

Shurayun to the Resource Fund: Your strategic goals are unclear