RIYADH: The Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development on Saturday took part in celebrations to mark World Youth Skills Day. This year’s event was themed around skilling teachers, trainers, and youth for a transformative future. The ministry aims to support the development of youth skills while keeping up to speed on the latest professional advancements in the labor market. Ahmed Al-Zahrani, the deputy minister for skills and training, noted that skills development was among the Kingdom’s top priorities, and he pointed out the importance of youth as key contributors to the national strategy. He highlighted several related initiatives launched by the ministry, including the establishment of sectoral skills councils, the development of national occupational standards, the Waad campaign to incentivize private-sector training, and skills accelerator and training voucher schemes. Al-Zahrani said the Waad campaign, run in collaboration with the private sector, had provided more than 192,000 training opportunities in the first half of this year, and that there were proposals to offer at least 1.15 million similar places by the end of 2025. In addition, the ministry was looking to set up 12 sectoral skills councils, design frameworks for 2,000 technical and specialized skills, and develop standards for 300 sectoral occupations and career paths by 2025. It recently launched three sectoral councils covering tourism and hospitality, energy and public utilities, and manufacturing sectors. And plans are in the pipeline to train and qualify more than 322,000 Saudi employees through the skills accelerator and training voucher schemes.