RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Human Resources Development Fund, also known as Hadaf, helped get 400,000 Saudis jobs in the private sector in 2022 through its various program and initiatives, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The report quoted the fund’s Director General Turki Al-Jawini as saying that more than 1.49 million Saudis benefitted from training, empowerment and guidance programs and services provided by Hadaf last year. HADAF runs several initiatives including training programs to drive employability among Saudis while supporting establishments in various activities, sectors and professions, as the Kingdom pursues its localization goals outlined in Vision 2030. These programs include Tamheer, an on-the-job training program; the 9/10ths startup accelerator, which provides early-stage mentorship and funding; Wusool, which promotes women’s participation in the workplace through subsidized transportation; the child support program Qurrah; and other initiatives to localize sectors in the labor market. The fund spent SR6 billion ($1.6 billion) on training and support programs in 2022, Al-Jawini said. The number of establishments that benefited from the fund’s services during the same year exceeded 138,000 across various sectors of the labor market and different areas in the Kingdom, he added.