12 June 2017

RIYADH — The Ministry of Labor and Social Development has said the International Labor Organization lauded Saudi Vision 2030 and expressed its willingness to extend cooperation to achieve its objectives.

Minister of Labor and Social Development Ali Al-Ghafis met with ILO Director General Guy Ryder in Geneva on Thursday. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 106th Session of the International Labor Conference.

They discussed a number of labor and social issues of mutual concern and explored ways to extend cooperation.

Ryder commended Saudi Vision 2030 as a promising program that aims to generate job opportunities by encouraging investment, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and raising contribution of the nonprofit sector.

The ministry said in a statement the organization showed its keenness to cooperate with the Kingdom to implement such schemes and projects under Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program (NTP) 2020. At the meeting, the two sides agreed on the importance of cooperation and integration between labor-related programs of the Arab Labor Organization and the ILO.

Al-Ghafis congratulated Ryder on his re-election as ILO chief for a second term and hailed his efforts in supporting employment and social development programs at all levels.

© The Saudi Gazette 2017