New scientist visas to boost development

[womfalcs3]

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article364827.ece

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia announced Monday its plan to recruit scores of scientists and experts to support its research programs by issuing a new kind of visa.

The Council of Ministers, which took the decision, said the new visa would be called scientist and expert visa and issued free of charge.

A committee comprising representatives from the Ministry of Higher Education, King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology, King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy and Health Services Council would be formed for the recruitment purpose.

[Mesch]

Great step!
But I'm still longing for the time when normal tourist visas are issued..

[I Know]

Heard that expats will not be allowed to remit salary as freely as they have been doing?

[womfalcs3]

Originally Posted by I Know

Heard that expats will not be allowed to remit salary as freely as they have been doing?

Don't know, but that would be a good thing to do indirectly. We shouldn't directly restrict transfer of money, but we need to reduce it.

One way would be to restrict the immigration of low-skilled labor. Most of the immigrants we get in this country should be doctors, engineers, nurses, scientists, etc.. We should stop importing drivers, maids, grocers, and so on. Those positions should either be taken up by Saudis or no one.

For maids, the families themselves should perform the housekeeping. For drivers, let women drive and reduce their need.

[I Know]

Thanks for the reply

Theres an article here - Saudis find expatriate remittances troubling

Dubai: Saudi Arabia's suggestion last month that it will try to limit how much money expatriate workers send home showed concern about the cost of having foreigners make up nearly a third of the population.

An estimated nine million foreign workers and their dependents remitted 26.8 billion riyals (Dh26 billion) out of the country in the second quarter of this year, central bank data shows. That amount was equivalent to 17 per cent of Saudi Arabia's current account surplus at a time of historically high oil revenues.

Risk

With the stability of the global financial system threatened by the Eurozone debt crisis, and Saudi Arabia keen to use more of its monetary resources domestically under a $130 billion (Dh477 billion) government spending plan announced this year, the outflow of funds may be starting to look uncomfortably large.

http://gulfnews.com/business/banking...bling-1.937038