Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC) has invited proposals to offer its employees and their families health insurance, in what promises to be one of the most lucrative insurance contracts in the Middle East.

Company spokesman Mohamed al-Faraj said STC employs at least 20,000 employees. He could not immediately disclose the total number of people who would be covered by the health insurance plan.

The tender is open only to firms that are authorised by the Saudi central bank to offer health insurance, STC said in the tender announcement published in Saudi newspapers on Saturday.

It set a May 19 deadline for the submission of the bids. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly delayed plans to make health insurance compulsory for employers in the kingdom.

Abdullah Al-Sharief, secretary-general of the Co-operative Health Insurance Council, said in January the scheme will be applied within six months for 1.5 million Saudis working in the private sector and their families.-Reuters