Dubai: Saudi Arabia will recruit over two million domestic servants during the next 10 years, but steps are being taken to reduce the entry of foreign workers into the kingdom, a government official has said.

"The Saudi labour market would receive two million domestic servants of various nationalities over the next 10 years," Walid Al-Suwaidan, director of the Recruiting Offices Committee in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Riyadh was quoted as saying in the Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper. The annual figure of recruited maids during this period was expected to be between 250,000 and 300,000, he said.

Urging people to give up hiring "unnecessary" domestic helpers, Al-Suwaidan said the programme of establishing nurseries for children close to residential areas will help reduce the demand for domestic maids from other countries, as a large number of women were recruited for looking after children.

"The establishment of nurseries for children will help reduce recruitment from outside the Kingdom. This would drastically reduce the entry of foreign domestic workers and create job opportunities for Saudi women," he said. The number of maids of various nationalities currently working in the Kingdom is estimated at one million.

Meanwhile, Labour Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi denied reports that a ban had been imposed on the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers, but alluded to country quotas as one of the reasons for reduced recruitment. Reports of a ban on recruiting Bangladeshis was earlier printed in the local media.

"Saudi authorities are still issuing visas to recruit professionals and workers from Bangladesh," Bangladeshi labour counselor in Riyadh S M Haroon said.

Source : PTI