Mahmoud Ahmad

THERE seems to be a diatribe by a certain section of people on the outflow of money due to the increased remittances to their respective countries by expatriates. Another Saudi writer published an article in a local daily recently about the worrying figure of expat remittances. In the opinion article, the writer said that expatriate workers transferred more than SR100 billion to their home countries, which had risen by 3.4 percent from 2012. He described this huge increase as worrying and the report citing this increase should have caught the attention of authorities.



First of all, and for the hundredth time, I stress, let us first define and understand the relationship between the sponsor or the company with the expat worker. The expat worker is recruited through proper channels with a visa to do a certain job and in return the expat worker is paid money for his services. That is the simplest definition that I attribute to the relation between the employer and the employed.



So when the earned remuneration is used by the employee in any which way that is lawful, then what right others have to question whether he spends it here or sends it out there as remittances? My question is, do we have the right to tell the expatriate worker what to do with his money?



Money that is circulated within the economy is good money and benefits and strengthens the economy. When there is a leakage of money that is transferred abroad then we have a problem. In my opinion instead of asking why expatriate workers are transferring their money abroad, we should be asking ourselves what is the solution, and what have we done? Also what incentives have we offered expat workers to keep their money here?



I am sure the writer failed to mention the key fact that expat workers are not transferring all of their money back to their countries. For they need part of the amount to survive here. They need to buy food and groceries, need to pay utility bills to Saudi companies, and need to pay rent, in addition, those having families, need to pay school tuition fees and so on.



And these are the bare necessities that they have to pay for in order to eke out a decent living. For those who do not have families, they have to pay about the same amount to fulfill their family needs back home, so in effect the expat workers are not saving but surviving.



So if we assume that half of what they earn is spent here, which is SR50 billion, then that is an amount the writer should thank them for spending it in our economy. I would like to remind all that Saudi economy is a free economy and the government cannot control those who want to send their money abroad. It is not within our rights to tell someone who earned his money by dint of hard work and sweat not to send his money back home. It is his money and his God-given right to do whatever he wants to do with it.



I did broach the subject of expats sending money abroad to my expat friend and his response stopped me cold. He told me that he had tried on many occasions to bring his parents to live with him here but it was denied and therefore he was left with no option but to send them money. “What I spent on my parents’ — lodging, health bills, groceries and travel — could have been spent here and all Kingdom’s sectors could have benefitted,” was his answer to me.



On reflection, his reasoning is simple and sound. Imagine if we told this man not to send his money to his parents? Then the very purpose of him working abroad is not justified. Another expatriate friend sends money abroad to support his children’s education. How can we tell him not to send money, when there are no outlets for higher education for expats’ children? Another expatriate worker is sending money home to build a house and have a roof over his head when he goes back for good. In similar fashion, each expatriate worker has his own reason why he/she is sending money back home. We have Saudis, who too are sending money abroad to support their sons and daughters studying outside on scholarships or not. How is this act different from the expat workers’ move of supporting their children’s education or their love ones?



As for the writer’s questions on how we can free Saudis from wanting government jobs to work in the private sector. Well it is simple. The vast majority, sadly, love the comfort and security of government jobs. I am not going to talk about their productivity as I had mentioned in an earlier article that it is very poor. That’s what many of our youth are searching for. There are good examples of young Saudis entering the private sector to work in factories and production lines and making a difference. But their number is far too low to replace any of the recruited skilled workers.

 

Saudi Arabia is growing fast and the wheel of development will not stop. We need skilled expatriate workers to complete projects because the number of Saudi graduates is not enough. We also need to stop complaining about expatriate workers sending remittance back to their countries, and instead we should think of ways to motivate them to invest here and keep that amount or at least reduce the percentage of money sent back home.



It is their money and they have the right to do whatever they want to do with it. We need to blame the Saudi businessmen who are investing hundreds of billions of riyals outside the country. Why have they not invested majority percentage of their money here?

 

— The writer can be contacted at mahmad@saudigazette.com.sa.