The Council of Ministers on Monday approved the setting up of labor attache offices at Saudi embassies in Egypt, India, Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, the Saudi Gazette reported.

The weekly session of the Cabinet, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, at Al-Yamama Palace in Riyadh, took this decision after reviewing the recommendation of the Permanent Committee at the Council of Economic and Development Affairs.

In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the session, Minister of State, Member of Cabinet and Acting Minister of Culture and Information Essam Bin Saad said that the Ministry of Labor and Social Development, in coordination with the ministries of foreign and civil service, has to fix the number of Saudi and non-Saudi employees at the offices to help labor attaches.

The Cabinet also entrusted these three ministries to define the duties of the offices.

In July, Saudi Gazette had reported that the Ministry of Labor and Social Development was planning to appoint labor attachés in countries from where the Kingdom hires expat workers.

“The ministry thinks that labor attachés can restrict recruitment brokers and regulate the recruitment business.

“The ministry hopes to clean the recruitment market off brokers and offer a fully organized recruitment market,” a source said at that time.