ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top diplomat in Riyadh praised recently announced Saudi labor reforms that will ease foreign workers’ contractual restrictions. Raja Ali Ejaz, Islamabad’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said the new rules would significantly benefit Pakistani workers in the Kingdom. The Labor Reform Initiative (LRI), issued by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, is due to come into effect in March and aims to make the Saudi labor market more attractive by granting millions of foreign workers in the Kingdom’s private sector new freedoms to move between jobs and travel. The Kingdom, which chairs the Group of 20 major economies (G20) this year, is seeking to boost its private sector as part of an ambitious plan to diversify its oil-dependent economy. “The reforms are expected to benefit Pakistani workers and we congratulate the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Development,” Ejaz told Arab News. The new initiative will base the relation between employers and workers on a standard contract that needs to be certified by the government, and will allow workers to apply directly for services via an e-government portal, instead of a mandatory employers’ approval. The ministry aims to certify the contracts of all foreign workers by the end of the first quarter of 2021. Ejaz pointed out that the reforms were grounded in best international practices, and the new system would activate the employer-employee contractual agreement through digital documentation, which would resolve administrative glitches. “The new initiative will alleviate the problems of those workers who sign work agreements in Pakistan and are then asked to sign another agreement in the Kingdom,” the envoy said, adding that the new system would also help Pakistani workers search for new jobs on the expiry of their contracts while still residing in Saudi Arabia. The reforms are in accordance with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, a package of economic and social policies designed to transform the Kingdom’s economy and reduce its dependence on oil.