RIYADH: The first Saudi Recruitment, Labor and Support Services Forum and Exhibition (RALS 2018) has been hailed as a success by firms who attended and called for it to be made an annual event. RALS 2018 brought together recruitment companies to explore opportunities in the Kingdom at a three-day forum. The event was opened on Sunday by Riyadh Gov. Prince Faisal bin Bandar at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center. Companies who took part said that events of this type should be organized on a regular basis as they helped to streamline the sector. Speaking to Arab News at the forum Abdulwahab Waleed Aldayel, marketing director at the Al Ajeer Recruitment Co., said on Tuesday: “We see this forum as an opportunity to deliver the message that recruitment is a good sector to invest in.” “We would like to change the image of the recruitment here in Saudi Arabia because it is understood in a very limited sense. The common perception is that the recruitment drive is to have a nanny or a private driver; this perception has to change. We wish to go for technology-driven recruitment in line with Vision 2030, that aims to diversify all aspects of development in the Kingdom to make life easy,” he said. Tariq Alolaqi, senior director customer experience at the Saudi Manpower Solutions Co. (SMASCO), told Arab News: “We are happy to be part of the first recruitment, labor and support services forum ... (we are) getting a good response from the clients.” Yusef Ali Al-Awaji, director of international recruitment at Maharah Human Resource Co., told Arab News: “It is a privilege to be here at the first forum ... it has been a great experience and an opportunity for all of us participating as different companies and sharing our experiences to move on for growth and contribution to the local labor market.” Muhammed Almulhim, sales manager at the Mueen Human Resource Co., told Arab News: “This forum is well timed and needed, it came as a great help to all of us working in the labor sector. The response to the forum is hugely successful and it should be organized annually now.” A large number of recruitment firms and offices accredited in the Kingdom’s labor market attended the forum and exhibition seeking to establish a culture of reliability between companies and the clients.