Latest news with #Al-Qasabi
Saudi Gazette
5 days ago
- Business
- Saudi Gazette
Commerce and sports ministers participate in roundtable on Saudi-British sports cooperation
Saudi Gazette report LONDON — Saudi Minister of Commerce Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi has affirmed at the Saudi-UK Strategic Partnership Council that Saudi vision 2030 launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman transformed the Saudi economy and created promising opportunities in many vital sectors. He explained that the Saudi-British partnership is unique, and the UK is the second-largest exporter of services in the world. He added that the two countries can cooperate to establish a global integration system that covers many aspects of sports, tourism, culture, arts, and technology, all of which have become a global language that requires no translation. The meeting was also attended by Saudi Minister of Sports Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki, and Sir Chris Bryant, UK's Minister of State for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism. The roundtable, organized by the National Competitiveness Center in cooperation with the UK Department for Business and Trade, focused on introducing companies to the promising opportunities offered by the Kingdom's hosting of international sporting events, such as the 2034 World Cup. It also addressed opportunities for cooperation in areas supporting the sports sector, such as technology, infrastructure, construction, facility operations, and planning and execution of major events. In a meeting with Jonathan Reynolds, Minister of State for Business and Trade, which was attended by Prince Khalid bin Bandar, Saudi Ambassador to UK, and Neil Crompton, British Ambassador to the Kingdom, Al-Qasabi discussed enhancing cooperation in developing the sports sector in light of Saudi hosting major events such as the 2034 World Cup. They reviewed the progress of initiatives emerging from the economic and social committees of the Saudi-British Strategic Partnership Council, including developments in the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement between UK and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. During the meeting, the two sides highlighted the importance of the Saudi-British Future Skills Initiative and its impact on developing skills in sectors of mutual interest, in addition to the continuation of the Great Futures Initiative for 2025. The Saudi delegation's agenda on the first day included a field visit to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and its facilities. The delegation was briefed on the facilities' capabilities and experience in hosting entertainment and sporting events. The participating entities in the visit included the ministries of Commerce, Sports, Investment and Finance, the Supreme Committee for Hosting the 2034 World Cup, the Public Investment Fund, the National Competitiveness Center, the Saudi Business Center, the National Center for Privatization, and a number of major national companies specializing in sports events, infrastructure, and media. Al-Qasabi arrived in the British capital, London, on a working visit, accompanied by a delegation comprising officials from nine government agencies and 30 leaders from the business sector and major national companies. The visit aims to build economic partnerships in the sports sector between the two countries, strengthen relations across various priority sectors, and raise the level of commercial partnerships.
Trade Arabia
15-04-2025
- Business
- Trade Arabia
KSA will create one million jobs in tourism, culture by 2030
The vital sectors of tourism, culture, sports, and creative industries will create one million jobs in Saudi Arabia by 2030, according to Minister of Commerce Majed Al-Qasabi. Attending a panel discussion at the Human Capability Initiative Conference in Riyadh, he said that the creative economy would support creating more than 80,000 jobs, with strong growth expected in the sectors of film, design, fashion, and digital arts, a report in Saudi Gazette said. "Saudi Arabia has moved from ambition to action, and with Expo 2030 and the 2034 World Cup approaching, we need future skills that will enable our youth to move forward," he said. Al-Qasabi said the digital economy will record robust growth, with its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) will jump from 4.4 per cent to 19 per cent by 2030 while the value of the healthcare sector is expected to reach SR250 billion ($66 billion) by that time. The minister emphasised that 65 per cent of Saudis are under the age of 35, which means that investing in lifelong education is no longer an option, but has become essential. "Saudi Arabia is working to develop skills and assess gaps in workforce capabilities and future needs. Future skills have been integrated into training and educational institutions, in addition to utilising artificial intelligence and technology, bringing expertise to the Kingdom, and sending students abroad to achieve future goals," he added.
Zawya
15-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Tourism, culture, and sports will generate 1mln jobs by 2030: Saudi minister
RIYADH — Minister of Commerce Majed Al-Qasabi said that the vital Saudi sectors of tourism, culture, sports, and creative industries will create one million jobs by 2030. Attending a panel discussion at the Human Capability Initiative Conference in Riyadh on Monday, he said that the creative economy would support creating more than 80,000 jobs, with strong growth expected in the sectors of film, design, fashion, and digital arts. "Saudi Arabia has moved from ambition to action, and with Expo 2030 and the 2034 World Cup approaching, we need future skills that will enable our youth to move forward," he said. Al-Qasabi said the digital economy will record robust growth, with its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) will jump from 4.4 percent to 19 percent by 2030 while the value of the healthcare sector is expected to reach SR250 billion by that time. The minister emphasized that 65 percent of Saudis are under the age of 35, which means that investing in lifelong education is no longer an option, but has become essential. "Saudi Arabia is working to develop skills and assess gaps in workforce capabilities and future needs. Future skills have been integrated into training and educational institutions, in addition to utilizing artificial intelligence and technology, bringing expertise to the Kingdom, and sending students abroad to achieve future goals," he added. © Copyright 2022 The Saudi Gazette. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Saudi Gazette
14-04-2025
- Business
- Saudi Gazette
Al-Qasabi: Tourism, culture, and sports will generate one million jobs by 2030
Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Minister of Commerce Majed Al-Qasabi said that the vital Saudi sectors of tourism, culture, sports, and creative industries will create one million jobs by 2030. Attending a panel discussion at the Human Capability Initiative Conference in Riyadh on Monday, he said that the creative economy would support creating more than 80,000 jobs, with strong growth expected in the sectors of film, design, fashion, and digital arts. "Saudi Arabia has moved from ambition to action, and with Expo 2030 and the 2034 World Cup approaching, we need future skills that will enable our youth to move forward," he said. Al-Qasabi said the digital economy will record robust growth, with its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) will jump from 4.4 percent to 19 percent by 2030 while the value of the healthcare sector is expected to reach SR250 billion by that time. The minister emphasized that 65 percent of Saudis are under the age of 35, which means that investing in lifelong education is no longer an option, but has become essential. "Saudi Arabia is working to develop skills and assess gaps in workforce capabilities and future needs. Future skills have been integrated into training and educational institutions, in addition to utilizing artificial intelligence and technology, bringing expertise to the Kingdom, and sending students abroad to achieve future goals," he added.
Arab News
14-04-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Al-Qasabi calls for Saudi-UK partnership to future-proof skills, jobs
RIYADH: A Saudi-UK Center of Excellence should be established to help secure the future skill sets needed, according to the Kingdom's minister of commerce. During a panel discussion titled 'Human Capital Reimagined – Launching the Saudi-UK Skills Initiative' on the second day of the Human Capability Initiative 2025 taking place in Riyadh, Majid Al-Qasabi explained that this initiative aligns with the UK's reputation as a global center of excellence in education, home to top universities, leading research institutions, and world-class vocational schools. Al-Qasabi speculated on future areas of collaboration: 'We need to collaborate and cooperate and coordinate in three areas. Track A, we create a Saudi-UK Center of Excellence for future skills, where we can bring democrats like me, policymakers, private sector opinion leaders, educators, all the stakeholders to co-design future skills.' He also shed light on additional areas where the two countries should collaborate, including vocational training and leveraging digital platforms. 'We know that the UK, they're the center of excellence for vocational training, and we desperately need vocational training in Saudi Arabia. So, second track, we create the center of excellence or vocational academies, jointly UK-Saudi Vocational Academy, where your software, your brain power, your experience can be transferred to our boys and girls because this will also be used in the health sector and the newly developed sectors,' the minister said. 'Last, how can we leverage digital platforms to accelerate learning and continuous life learning because things are going too fast, so we create maybe a joined platforms to have continuous education even in the service sector. You know, the UK is the second largest exporter of services globally,' Al-Qasabi added. He went on to note that the tourism, culture, sports, and creative industries are expected to create 1 million jobs by 2030. The creative economy alone already supports over 80,000 jobs, with strong growth anticipated in film and design, fashion, and digital arts. 'The digital economy is projected to grow from 4.4 percent of GDP in 2020 to over 19 percent by 2030. The health care sector is projected to reach SR250 billion ($66.6 billion) by 2030,' the minister said. Al-Qasabi added: 'The green economy expected over SR2 trillion worth of investments in the pipeline, like sustainable construction, renewable energy, circular economies, and so forth.' He also emphasized that with 65 percent of the population under the age of 35, investing in lifelong learning is not a choice but a necessity. Also speaking during the panel, the Kingdom's Vice Minister of Sport, Bader Al-Kadi, noted that the National Sports Strategy was developed by drawing on insights from other markets, particularly the UK, which has been closely studied as a model for sports development. 'With that learning taken, we have worked on building capabilities in Saudis to ensure that we have the right talents. Not only as athletes, but as a physiotherapist, as psychiatrists, as sports managers, as coaches, and everything around building the ecosystem,' Al-Kadi said. 'We learn also from the UK sustainability in the sports sector. The UK sports sector is 90 percent funded by the private sector. That's a great target, an ambitious to achieve. In Saudi Arabia today, 15 percent of the sports sector is funded by the private sector, so a big gap and a big ambition for us to work on toward achieving,' he added. The minister also emphasized that human capability is one of the key enablers underpinning the National Sports Strategy and plays a central role in its development. 'The sports sector will contribute to 13 percent of those jobs that are being created by sports entertainment and tourism sectors,' Al-Kadi said. 'Obviously, sports (sector) is expected to also contribute to the economy. We aim to have sports reaching up to 3 percent of GDP by 2030. This is an ambitious target that we have for ourselves,' he added. Also present in the same panel, UK's Minister of Early Education Stephen Morgan underlined that the country wants to start by sharing their work with the Kingdom and, in turn, learn from the Ministry of Education's initiatives to upskill and retain early-year staff. 'We could also share our experiences of introducing new modern teaching methods, and these include educational technology that tailors learning to individual children and produces data-led results to measure impact,' Morgan said. He added: 'And it's through the sharing of our practice and resources and knowledge that early education can become a key building block in our partnership on skills training for older students and I have absolutely no doubt that the UK-Saudi Skills Education Partnership will be accessed with a success and we've already had notable achievements in our work together on education, such as increasing the number of UK independent schools in the Kingdom and we're working really hard to deliver more important higher education partnerships for the future.' Steve Field, UK special healthcare representative to Saudi Arabia, said: 'You have a large number of nurses, majority of which are currently working very effectively in the hospital setup. You've got some brilliant hospitals, but to deliver the vision you will need to focus on prevention, on primary care and on mental health in addition to your hospital world and of course, if you can do that, you can move care out of hospitals, reduce the cost of healthcare, and also prevent illnesses before you have to treat them.' He added: 'So we're here to help you. Our universities are really keen to partner with you to develop more nursing schools to support you in your faculty development, in your leadership, and we want to be on this journey with you and finally just to reassure and assure you that the UK government are right behind this and are with you right till the end and beyond.' Mazen Fakeeh, president of Fakeeh Care Group, who also participated in the session, disclosed that the nursing shortage is a global issue, not just specific to Saudi Arabia. 'Nurses constitute 40 percent of the workforce required to provide care across the globe. Saudi Arabia, we have about. 6.2 nurses per 1,000 population. In Saudi Arabia, the current intake in nursing school is about 5,000 a year. For us to meet the gap, the existing gap and the future gap between 2030 to 2040, we need to increase that intake from the current 5,000 by 150 percent,' Fakeeh said. He added: 'So, there is a huge demand on nursing, nursing training and education. For that, the government had the initiative to reduce the number of years without compromising the quality of training from the current four years plus one year of internship to three years, which is the expedited nursing curriculum in the UK.'
