Banks coming to Saudi 'struggle to find talent'

Riyadh, October 29, 2009

Deal-hungry international banks and firms flocking to Saudi Arabia say they are struggling to find qualified staff due to an outdated state education system that lacks business focus in an ultra-conservative country, a report said.

With the Saudi government opening up the biggest Arab stock market and planning to spend $400 billion on its infrastructure, there are plenty of deals to chase in the kingdom, which benefits from high oil prices, Paul Gamble, head of research at Riyadh's Jadwa Investment, told the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit.

'There is a huge demand for talent in this region that has come up over night and it has been difficult to fill that locally,' Gamble said. - Reuters

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