Under the patronage of Emir of Jazan Region His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Emir of the Region His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad bin Abdulaziz bin Muhammad bin Abdulaziz inaugurated today the "Waad" Skills and Training Forum in the Jazan region, at the Prince Sultan Cultural Center in the city of Jazan.

His Highness the Deputy Emir of the region toured the exhibition accompanying the Forum, in which many sectors concerned with training, qualifying, and developing cadres participated, while His Excellency the Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Social Development for the Labor Sector, Dr. Abdullah bin Nasser Abuthnain, delivered a speech in which he reviewed the importance of training to build and develop capabilities and skills required by the labor market, especially since investing in skills is the most important investment for the future of our country, our economy, and the competitiveness of national cadres.
He added that the human resources and social development system, in cooperation with government agencies and the private sector, worked to develop the labor market strategy through 25 reform initiatives, the most prominent of which are reforms related to employment, skills, and increased productivity, noting the continuous work with the support of partners to raise the number of Saudis in the private sector to reach 
2,400,000 Saudi citizens today, while the unemployment rate decreased in an unprecedented historical achievement to reach 7.1%, and the participation rate of Saudis in the workforce increased to 50.8%. The Kingdom also achieved the tenth rank in the world in the employee training index, according to the Global Competitiveness Report.
His Excellency the Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Social Development for the Labor Sector explained that the Ministry also worked on formulating policies and finding incentives and enablers to raise the level of skills in the labor market through a number of initiatives, including developing a strategy for skills, activating the national program to stimulate the private sector for training, and the national professional standards initiative, as well as establishing sectoral skills councils, in addition to launching a national campaign to pledge training, "Waad," which targets more than 1,155,000 training opportunities within three years, as more than 112% of the total target has been achieved.
The inauguration ceremony included a presentation of the achievements and initiatives of skills and training at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, through many programs that encourage training and empower trainees from the labor market, while the Undersecretary of the Ministry for Skills and Training, Dr. Ahmed bin Abdullah Alzahrani, presented the initiatives and incentives for skills in the labor market.
The "Waad" Forum features panel discussions and specialized workshops on modern technologies and professional development strategies, aiming to provide a platform for exchanging ideas and experiences. In addition, it offers over 35,000 training opportunities for the sons and daughters of the region.