National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), a leader in logistics and transportation, has successfully completed the first edition of ‘SAIFI’, a summer training programme for undergraduate students in the kingdom.

The programme was launched jointly by the Ministry of Labour and Social Development (MOLSD) and the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), said a statement from Bahri.

Aimed at training and developing practical skills among the country’s youth, the four-week internship programme ran from July 8 until August 2, with the participation of 15 male and female undergraduate students, it said.

Allowing the participants the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the various aspects of the company’s operations and the maritime industry in general, the first edition of the programme saw the students receive practical training while working within the company’s different business and functional units, including human resources, information technology, finance and accounting, corporate communications, sales, administrative affairs, and operations, it added.

Hisham Alkhaldi, senior vice president for human resources and corporate communications, said: “Bahri’s Human Resources department has a long-term strategy in place to support Saudization and boost the economic contribution of the national workforce through training and internship programmes with universities and institutes that increase the employability of local talents.”

“The ‘SAIFI’ programme is aimed at introducing university students to the work environment and preparing them to enter the market,” he said.

“The Bahri Talent Management team established a four-week training programme where trainees were briefed on all aspects of the company’s operations and were assigned a number of tasks and responsibilities as part of the learning experience,” he added.

Alkhaldi continued: “We are committed to supporting Bahri’s growth and enabling it to achieve its long-term vision. To this end, we are also working hard to empower women and enable their inclusion in various fields, in addition to supporting Saudi youth to explore career opportunities in the maritime sector and helping them develop their technical skills.”

“Our company also assigns great importance to support Saudization among national companies. In fact, 69 per cent of our employees are Saudi nationals,” he added.

Alkhaldi thanked the trainees for their commitment to successfully completing the programme, stressing that the programme offered an excellent opportunity to share our experiences and expertise for the common good of our nation and the industry, said a statement.

Speaking about the programme, one of the trainees Ali Asiri said: “I have had a very good training experience at Bahri where I gained a lot of experience, took on many new responsibilities and learned about the various aspects of Social Media such as creating and publishing content for different platforms as well as media and visual selection. I’ve also had the opportunity to enhance my personal skills such as photography.” – TradeArabia News Service