His Excellency, the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, Engineer Ahmed bin Suleiman Al-Rajhi, extended congratulations to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, on the occasion of the issuance of the General Budget of the State for the fiscal year 2024.

During his participation on Thursday, December 7, 2023, in the dialogue session on "Budget within the Framework of Service Development" as part of the events of the 2024 Budget Forum, His Excellency the Minister explained that the issuance of the General Budget of the State for 2024, with its numbers and indicators, confirms the country's direction in supporting growth opportunities, sustainability, and financial stability to achieve the goals of Vision 2030. He emphasized that the leadership's support has led to the development of more services provided to citizens and residents.

He highlighted the ministry's achievements in 2023 during the session, including an increase in the number of Saudis working in the private sector from 1.7 million to 2.3 million this year, including 361 thousand who had not previously entered the labor market. The participation of women in the workforce also increased from 17% to 35.3%, surpassing the Vision's target of 30%. He confirmed that the ministry is working to implement the directives of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to raise the target of women's participation in the labor market to 40% in the coming period.

He also discussed the successes achieved in qualitative Saudization, contributing to the increase in the participation rate of Saudis in engineering professions from 40,000 to 70,000 and accounting professions from 42,000 to 103,000. Moreover, more than 100,000 young men and women were empowered in 2023, transforming their families from needy to productive households.

Minister Al-Rajhi emphasized a 74% decrease in beneficiary visits to branches from 53,000 to 13,700 visits per month. Additionally, automated services increased from 284 to 1,000 digital services, representing 80% of total services, with a target of 300 new services in 2024. He explained that the total spent in 2023 on social security programs, Citizen's Account, and comprehensive rehabilitation for people with disabilities amounted to 86 billion Saudi Riyals.

The Minister addressed the ministry's targets for 2024, including launching the second phase of the Saudization program to create 172,000 jobs, targeting six vital sectors, launching and activating the National Skills Strategy, launching proactive communication service for beneficiaries before branch visits, and introducing virtual branch service for their convenience. The ministry also aims to involve 30% of non-profit sector organizations, reaching 5,000 organizations, increasing cooperative associations to 467, with their economic contribution growing to 2.3 billion Riyals, and creating over 16,000 jobs.

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