Saudi - October 23, 2019:   VFS Global, the world’s largest outsourcing and technology services specialist for diplomatic missions worldwide, is building on its Saudization initiatives by co-participating with the Embassy of Sweden at the ‘A Step Ahead Career Fair 2019’. The three-day recruitment related conference was held in the capital city of Riyadh from 1 to 3 October, and was endorsed by The Ministry of Labor and the Human Resources Development Fund. 

 

As the biggest event targeted towards empowering and employing Saudi women, entities from all industries participated to encourage women to explore how they can progress their careers and contribute to the KSA leaderships’ Saudization scheme, which is part of the leadership’s Saudi Vision 2030.

 

H.E. Mr. Niclas Trouvé, Ambassador of Sweden to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman and the Republic of Yemen said, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has an ambitious roadmap for enhancing the role that citizens play in the nation’s future progress. This is why initiatives like the ‘A Step Ahead Career Fair’ are so vital in empowering future talents to pursue careers that will help define and achieve the country’s vision for the years ahead. We were delighted to meet many young and talented candidates who certainly will have promising careers ahead.”

 

Mr. Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO for Middle East, South Asia & China, VFS Global said, “The women of Saudi Arabia are vital in helping to shape diversity within the country’s private and public sectors. As figures from the previous ‘A Step Ahead’ event reveal, this talented pool of skilled women also express a keen desire to become involved in boosting the social and economic future of the country. As such, VFS Global is proud to support workplace diversity in the Kingdom and empowering even more women to explore exciting career pathways.”

 

By co-participating with the Embassy of Sweden, VFS Global showcased and promoted the exciting career opportunities that exist in the visa services, travel and tourism sector. This is also in line with the company’s mission to achieve over 60% Saudization by 2020. 

 

VFS Global has been associated with the Government of Sweden since 2008 and presently serves customers through a network of 89 Visa Application Centres across 30 countries. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, VFS Global is serving customers for Swedish Visas in Al Khobar, Jeddah & Riyadh since 2014. 

 

The 2018 edition of the ‘A Step Ahead Career Fair’ welcomed over 36,000 women and over 90 entities from across the Kingdom. The two-day event consists of a conference, company exhibitions, workshops, and one-to-one counselling sessions for attendees.