RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, - Saudi Arabia's labour minister, Dr. Ali bin Nasser al-Ghafis, issued an order on Thursday, to restrict employment in shopping malls to Saudi nationals, who currently make up only one in five staff, in the retail sector.

The kingdom has been steadily closing off different areas of employment to foreigners, who comprise about a third of the population, as it aims to create jobs for young Saudis and cut the unemployment rate among nationals.

A statement from the minister for labour and social development, posted on Twitter, defined malls as, "closed commercial centres," but did not elaborate on the number of jobs affected, or a timeline for implementation.

Source: NAM News Network