Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef said that Saudi Arabia has a distinguished young generation and the government is keen on ensuring that education empowers these young people to meet the challenges. The Kingdom is working to create suitable jobs for future generations, he said while attending a panel discussion at the Human Capability Initiative Conference in Riyadh on Sunday.

Alkhorayef said that his ministry takes into account the country's demographics while formulating its plans and visions, as well as how to create suitable jobs for future generations, and to provide them with opportunities so as to empower them.

The minister said that Saudi Arabia and its Ministry of Industry are investing in modern technologies and collaborating with researchers and innovative programs to ensure that education, skills training, and youth empowerment lead to meeting challenges. "We are confident that good efforts are being made to achieve the right skills to achieve the goals. The changes taking place in the field of technology must be viewed holistically, and we are working to appoint innovators and human resources professionals to bring in the next waves of technology," he said.

"We are fortunate in terms of launching our vision and ambitions in industrial development and mining strategies, as we focus on how to use artificial intelligence to spur growth in this sector. The Kingdom has a strong advantage in energy efficiency, and artificial intelligence requires high energy consumption," Alkhorayef said, adding: "we are also spending a lot of money on infrastructure, data centers, and attracting investors, and there are major efforts in cybersecurity, which will ensure that artificial intelligence operates safely."

Alkhorayef emphasized that the Kingdom is one of the countries that has the ability to move forward quickly and help factories assess the level of automation, and this will be the sound foundation upon which these factories are built.

The Human Capability Initiative Conference is organized by the Human Capability Development Program, a key initiative within the Kingdom's Vision 2030, in partnership with the Ministry of Education. Adding to the focus on human potential, the Ministry of Education is hosting, on the sidelines of the conference, the Education Global Exhibition (EDGEx) from April 13 to 16, which is dedicated to human capacity and education and serving as a platform for unlocking human potential.