Saudi Arabia: Only Saudis Can Sell Insurance

In this iPMI Global regional country guides article, international private medical insurance report author and market analyst Ian Youngman, takes a look news that in Saudi Arabia, only Saudi nationals can take up sales positions in the insurance industry. This will change the international private medical insurance and private medical insurance market in Saudi.

• The Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has started enforcing a new policy requiring that all sales positions within the insurance industry be held exclusively by Saudi nationals.
• This directive is part of a national strategy known as Saudization, which seeks to bolster employment opportunities for Saudi citizens in key economic sectors.
• This policy was developed in conjunction with the Saudi Insurance Authority, which will oversee its implementation to ensure compliance across the sector.
• The authority's role includes continuous monitoring from the date the policy goes into effect until the Saudization targets are fully met.
• The decree, initially issued by the Insurance Authority in December 2023, applies specifically to roles associated with the sale of insurance products, stipulating that individuals in non-sales insurance positions are not permitted to receive sales-related commissions.
• The implementation of this Saudization measure is expected to significantly impact the insurance industry and contribute to the broader national goal of increasing the overall Saudization rates within the kingdom.
• It aims to cultivate a pool of domestic talent specialised in the insurance field, thereby elevating service quality and sectoral performance.

Analysis

• Many Middle Eastern countries have a large young and educates workforce.
• The trend to make opportunities for locals varies by country.
• The aim is that locals will replace foreigners in specialist, managerial and professional roles.
• Conversely, allowing Asians to do the unskilled jobs that locals so not want to do is increasingly popular.
• So expats will become more of the low paid short-term workers rather than higher paid expert and professional ones.
• This will change the PMI and IPMI market.

About the Author

Ian Youngman is an independent writer and researcher specialising in insurance. He writes regularly for a variety of magazines, newsletters, and on-line services. He publishes a range of market reports, and undertakes research for companies. To read his latest report, International Health Insurance 2023, please click here, or visit the REPORTS section of iPMI Global.