RIYADH: Director General of the Human Resources Development Fund Turki bin Abdullah Al-Jawini said that the fund has assisted more than 153,000 Saudi men and women in securing employment in the private sector during the first half of 2024. Al-Jawini said that the fund disbursed SR3.79 billion ($1 billion) to private sector establishments for training, employment and empowerment support programs during this period, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday. He added that 1.4 million Saudi men and women and some 100,000 establishments operating in vital sectors in the Kingdom benefited from the program. Al-Jawini emphasized the fund’s commitment to keeping pace with the Kingdom’s development across all fields, addressing the needs of the business sector, and meeting the demand for a skilled national workforce. The fund, he said, aimed to develop Saudis’ skills, increase their participation in the labor market and encourage the private sector to contribute to localization. It also worked to boost partnerships with entities concerned with training, employing and empowering the national workforce, and increasing their competitiveness and continuity in the labor market. Al-Jawini said that the fund’s programs and services had helped to increase the benefit of individuals and establishments, and stressed the fund’s continuous efforts to keep pace with labor market changes and requirements. He said that the fund was also working on developing training, empowerment and guidance support programs targeting national personnel, contributing to achieving the objectives of the Saudi Vision 2030 for human capacity development and labor market strategy.