Expat engineers not registered with Saudi body risk losing jobs or visa revocation
DAMMAM: Expatriate engineers working in the Kingdom now must register with the Saudi Council of Engineers or risk loss of their jobs or revocation of their visas, a council spokesperson told guests of the Indian Engineers Forum in Dammam.
“If an engineer does not have the mandatory clearance from the council then the expatriate engineer will not be able to work in the Kingdom,” council member Fahd Abdullah Al-Hamad told a group of about 125 engineers and technical professionals at Dammam Sheraton Hotel. “This is now being strictly implemented, and a large number of engineers have already registered with the council.”
The council reviews the academic and professional qualifications of engineers and encourages them to apply the best professional practices.
Al-Hamad urged IEF and other similar bodies to work in tandem with the council.
The forum focused on performance and productivity management. Pradeep Sharma, an authority on the subject, gave the keynote speech. IEF President Shuja Sheriff elaborated on the role of engineers in building a better tomorrow and noted that since its launch in 1998 in Riyadh, the forum has expanded to include Jeddah and Dammam.
King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals City and Regional Planning Chairman Adel Shaheen Al-Dossary highlighted India ’s engineering and architectural heritage and pointed to the Taj Mahal as an example of that country’s enduring design excellence.
Al-Dosary urged Indian engineers to continue that tradition and noted that Indian engineers are the first choice among many Saudi employers and will continue to be.
Among the guests were IEF chairman and founder Amir Khan, advisory board member Mirza Zaheer Baig, IEF Riyadh Chapter President Owais Ahmed, Mansoor Khan of Radian Oil and Gas Services, Mohammad Rahat Sultan and H.M. Siddiqui of Abdullah A. Al Khodari Sons Co., Ramy Assad of Site Saudia Consultants for Business and Development and Hisham Turki of Zamil Steel. IEF Vice President M.Z. Nadeem anchored the event.