‘Saudi job market for Keralites growing’

Job opportunities for Keralites in Saudi Arabia will not shrink in the near future, according to Tarek A Mishkhas, editor-in-chief of Malayalam News, a Saudi Arabia-based Malayalam newspaper.

Mishkhas, who is a former deputy editor of the Arab News newspaper, said Saudi Arabia is developing at a feverish pace and the economy is doing well. As a result, hundreds of new projects are ongoing in the desert kingdom. This necessitates a regular inflow of foreign workers into the country.

“The demand for expat workers will grow for several years to come,” Mishkhas, who was in Kerala recently, said. “This means that Malayalis will have more job opportunities, especially in sectors that require technical and specialised skills.”

The Malayalam News, published by the Saudi Research and Publishing Company since 1994, was the first Malayalam newspaper to be brought out in Saudi Arabia. It caters to the large Malayali population in the kingdom as well as in other Gulf countries.

Saudi Arabia, which employs the second largest number of non-resident Keralites after the United Arab Emirates, is one of the main sources of remittances to Kerala. The recent Nitaqat (Sauidization) programme, aimed at regulating the expat labour market by reserving 10 per cent jobs for locals, had evoked fears that job opportunities for expats in Saudi Arabia was waning.

Defending Nitaqat, Mishkhas said it had benefited thousands of Malayalis to regularise their job status in the country. “For instance, there were so many Malayalis with house-driver visas working as accountants,” he noted.

“Since house drivers cannot bring in their families, they had suffered. Nitaqat allowed them to change their job status to accountants and they are now eligible to set up families in Saudi Arabia.”

Mishkhas said Malayalis in Saudi Arabia were very hard working and that they saved well. “In Saudi Arabia, they are very frugal and spend very little money on themselves,” he commented. “But once back in Kerala, they are big spenders – they build big houses, buy nice cars and send their children to private schools.”

Mishkhas, who has travelled to Kerala every year for the past five years, says the roads in the State are in a pretty bad shape. “Kerala badly needs a lot of good roads and other public infrastructure,” he said. “I am told two new international airports are coming up in Kerala, but as a visitor I would say what Kerala needs is decent roads and not more airports.”

Though Kerala was a good tourist destination, the poor roads would disappoint the tourists. “I see city buses with the stickers ‘speed limit 35 km.’ Tourists come on short holidays and to help them make the best use of their limited time, they need fast moving vehicles and better roads,” he said.

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