Latest news with #Saudi-UK
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.'
Leaders
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Leaders
UK Plans to Boost Innovation and Technology with Saudi Arabia
The UK's Secretary of State for Science Peter Kyle stated that Britain plans to boost innovation and technology with Saudi Arabia, according to Arab News. During his visit to the Kingdom, Kyle said that bilateral collaboration between the two countries will help them both benefit from the rapid advances in AI technologies. The UK wants 'to continue to work closely with Saudi Arabia to bring together our science and tech expertise so we can ensure potentially game-changing innovations can benefit both our nations,' Kyle said in the interview published on Thursday. The minister added that both countries are natural partners in these areas, and they also boast shared ambitions, mutual goals in innovation and strengths in science and technology. 'Right across the world, breakthrough technologies like AI, quantum, and engineering biology are starting to transform our economies and societies,' he added. After both countries launched a joint energy partnership in January 2022, the UK and Saudi Arabia started to work together on clean energy and hydrogen technologies. 'We have made becoming a clean energy superpower one of our key government missions, and the growing demand for clean energy is a massive, shared opportunity — for growth, for green jobs, and for enhanced energy security,' Kyle said. Consequently, such collaboration has increased after a visit in December to Riyadh by the British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Significant Visit During his visit to the Kingdom, Kyle toured the King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center and met the medics who conducted the first robotic heart transplant in January. 'By further building the commercial and investment ties between our two countries, we can drive research and innovation and build the skills we need to continue the net-zero transition — benefitting us all,' he added. Related Topics: Starmer Visit to Riyadh: Strengthening Saudi-UK Relations Britain Looks to Boost Trade Ties with Saudi Arabia: UK Minister UK Secretary of State for Science Visits KFSHRC Heart Centre of Excellence Short link : Post Views: 1
Arab News
26-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Saudi street artist San Shyn unveils 80-feet mural outside KSA Embassy in London
San Shyn, a young street artist from Saudi Arabia, revealed a new vibrant public art mural outside the Saudi Embassy in the heart of Mayfair, London. The project has been realized as part of a unique Saudi-UK cross-cultural collaboration, with the piece being installed by London-based Graffiti artist Cept. The collaboration developed organically through word of mouth within the grassroots street art community and demonstrates an artistic exchange at the intersection of Saudi and UK culture. The public nature of the artwork in London promotes a greater understanding of diverse perspectives and worldviews that Saudi artists draw upon in their contemporary works. The 80-feet mural was installed over several days at the beginning of the year and will remain in place until mid-February. Shyn said: 'I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to create this mural in London and to collaborate with the incredibly talented UK artist Cept. The mural's distorted lines and shapes reflect the imperfection of creative expression which is at the heart of my work. This project is especially meaningful to me, as it allows me to share the evolving street art culture from Saudi Arabia on an international stage. To create something outside of my hometown and to contribute to the global dialogue of art is a dream come true.' The project is part of a series of artistic collaborations between the Embassy and Saudi artists including with Rashed Al-Shashai, whose luminous hanging sculpture was installed in the Embassy garden last year, and Ahmed Mater's first retrospective held at Christie's last summer. Mater is exhibiting his iconic Magnetism installation, first shown in the UK at the British Museum in 2012, at the historic Islamic Biennale, which opened in Jeddah on Jan. 25. Saudi Ambassador to the UK Khalid bin Bandar Al-Saud said: 'Saudi Arabia is changing, and the rise of dynamic street artists like San Shyn is a great example of this. That's why I was keen to give her a platform in central London, where we are already showcasing Rashed Al-Shashai's brilliant sculpture. Art is a bridge between cultures, and these works are an opportunity to demonstrate that Britain and Saudi Arabia have more in common than we might imagine.' In this mural, the artist's primary aim is to celebrate the street culture, capturing the essence of spontaneous, vibrant graffiti. With quick, bold strokes made using spray cans, the mural transforms ordinary walls into canvases of beauty, bringing life to the streets. Central to the artwork are figures that embody the very act of creating art, illustrating the raw energy and creativity that define this underground movement. The overall direction is inspired by the photos below, which are dynamic, colorful and unapologetically loud — just like street culture itself. Stephen Stapleton, founder of Edge of Arabia, said: 'This playful, joyful artwork in front of the Saudi Embassy in Mayfair reflects a new era of cross-cultural collaboration between the UK and Saudi Arabia. The language of art transcends the borders that divide us, and we need that language now more than ever.'
