RIYADH — The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has made big strides in their Saudization drive and is continuing to localize several sectors and raise the percentage of participation of Saudi men and women in the private sector and the labor market, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said Thursday. Meanwhile, the ministry has narrowed the gap between the workforce of both sexes in the labor market. In this regard, the ministry revealed a high indicator of women’s share in the labor market from the workforce, for Q1 2020. The target in this quarter was 24 percent, while the index for increasing women"s economic participation in the labor market achieved an increase to reach 27.5 percent. This is with the objective of achieving the goals of the National Transformation Program 2020 (NTP 2020) and the Kingdom"s Vision 2030, which emphasize the status and role of the Saudi workforce — both men and women — in raising the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The objective also calls for contributing to further enhancing the Saudi economy and plans for comprehensive and sustainable development, in addition to attaching great importance to empowering women to work and take up leadership posts and reduce unemployment among them. Among the positive indicators achieved by the Agency’s goals is the decrease in unemployment rates during this quarter to the lowest levels since the second half of 2016. Another is the rise in Saudization indicators in general, whether regional localization that includes a number of sectors and commercial activities according to the nature of each region, or general Saudization that includes commercial activities, public sectors, and specific and specialized occupations. This is in addition to the clear impact of government agreements and partnerships with the private sector that the ministry worked on during the previous two years, 2018 and 2019. This contributed to reducing the unemployment rate, from its peak of 12.9 percent in 2018 and drop to 11.8 percent during Q1 of 2020, in addition to the noticeable increase in employment and Saudization rates. One of the goals of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, on which the ministry was based, is to empower women and decrease unemployment. In this regard, the ministry revealed that it exceeded some indicators in its goals in terms of achievement, as the index of increasing women"s economic participation in the labor market achieved 25.9 percent, as mentioned in the Q1 2020 report. The target exceeded the required percentage for this year, as the target for this indicator was 25 percent for the year 2020. Meanwhile, the ministry narrowed the gap between the workforce of both sexes in the labor market. In this regard, the ministry revealed a high indicator for women’s share in the labor market for Q1 2020, where the target was 24 percent, while the index achieved an increase to reach 27.5 percent. This reflects the success of the Saudization and empowerment plans and the high awareness on the importance of women"s participation in the labor market and the role that empowerment plays in economic indicators, in addition to reducing unemployment rates among them. With regard to the Leadership Training and Mentoring Initiative through qualification and training for women, the Ministry introduced the initiative, and trained 391 Saudi female trainees working in the private and government sectors, via specialized training and mentoring programs, aimed at improving leadership skills This leads to empowering women to take up leadership positions in the upper and middle levels of management. This initiative has had many positive effects, like improving leadership skills to match the job requirements for Saudi women managers and executives, and increasing confidence in the ability of women to manage and lead the work teams and their departments.