Training the future leaders of Saudi industry

Saudi Arabia

Waleed Alkhudair, managing director of the National Industrial Training Institute (NITI), talks to The Energy Year about the institute’s journey to becoming a leading Saudi training institution and how Saudi Arabia is empowering its youth to be future leaders. NITI provides training for diverse sectors, including oil and gas and energy, and industrial activities.

Please give us an overview of NITI’s journey to becoming a leading Saudi training institution.
NITI is the result of a strategic partnership between Saudi Aramco and the Technical Vocational Training Corporation. It came into operation in April 2014 to prepare the young Saudi workforce for the job market, mainly in the energy sector. We are a non-profit organisation, but we are financially sustainable. NITI’s goal is also to enhance and advance our trainees’ careers.
Aside from our apprenticeship, we offer advanced programmes. As we permanently seek new qualifications, we constantly add new sets of best practices. Training is a critical element in the energy industry when international companies want to start new businesses and bring new technologies to Saudi Arabia. They need to prepare new workers. Through NITI, we enable them to source this workforce and thereby leverage the potential of young Saudis.

Why is it more affordable to seek local training in Saudi Arabia?
Studying locally eliminates the high expenses of living overseas. Moreover, organisations that train and qualify Saudis in the private sector receive financial aid from the Human Resources Development Fund, a government fund that falls under the Saudi Ministry of Labor and Social Development and supports companies with tuition fees and pays a percentage of the salaries. 75% of the cost of training at NITI is covered by the government.
For instance, an international service provider was expanding its scope in Saudi Arabia and didn’t have the qualified workforce in the kingdom to do so. Instead of bringing engineers from overseas, we jointly designed a training programme to train their local engineers, and it was a success. We also have training programmes to prepare their new engineering graduates to become site inspectors.

What transformative potential do Saudi youth, especially women, present for the energy sector?
When NITI started providing industrial training for women, including courses for HSE officers and safety inspectors, demand jumped. Women are eager to work in any kind of activity. I wouldn’t be surprised to soon see women working across all professions, including welders, pipe fitters, electricians and executive assistants.
We were one of the few institutes that signed a contract with the Ministry of Labor and Social Development to provide training for occupational health and safety positions. We have trained a total of 500 individuals, and 380 of them are women who have already joined the market. Currently we also have multiple classes of Saudi women who will be working as construction officers.
Overall, we have a great number of human resources in this country. The population of Saudi Arabia is over 30 million people, and more than half of them are under the age of 30. There is no limit to the potential of the young Saudi workforce.

What type of companies does NITI provide services for?
So far, 100% of our courses are dedicated to oil and gas. The minute our trainees graduate, they are employed by the company that sponsored them. In our apprenticeship programme, trainees are sponsored by a company from day one. To ensure client satisfaction, we even conduct pilot training to showcase our expertise.
NITI began by training individuals for refineries, but to capitalise on our great facilities and capabilities, we developed attractive value propositions for services companies that work both for upstream and downstream industries.
Our clients are both local and international companies. As of Q2 2023, most of them are international companies from South Korea, Europe, North America and China. However, our client portfolio varies a lot depending on the market’s status and upcoming projects.

How is NITI planning to diversify its portfolio of training courses?
Since 2018, we are diversifying from oil-and-gas-related courses and expanding our portfolio to provide training related to transportation, renewable energy, marine services, support services and more. We also service governmental and military entities with industry training related to safety, welding and inspection.
The aim is to be more dynamic to adapt to the market’s demands. We are a one-stop-shop training provider for clients. We also provide special leadership training to foreign engineers, teaching soft skills, projects management, sales, negotiation skills, communication, problem solving and decision making.

How do you intend to provide training for upcoming green energy projects?
We have recently added courses on solar and wind power. We’re planning to integrate courses related to the green ammonia and green hydrogen industries. For these innovative courses, we rely on the globally renowned company TÜV Rheinland Arabia, which has premier access to international subject matter experts who help us develop these training courses.

What is NITI’s strategy for having multiple accreditations?
When they graduate, our trainees receive a national certification from NITI that is endorsed by the TVTC, the Technical Vocational Training Corporation. We also have multiple international certifications.
We are certified by TÜV Rheinland, the Education & Training Commission (MASAR) of Saudi Arabia, The Accrediting Council of Training and Continuing Education from the US, TWI [The Welding Institute] and more. Sometimes we pursue new accreditations upon our clients’ request.
What sets us apart in this field is our approach to international standards.
We don’t limit ourselves to a single framework. For instance, with respect to welding, we hold TWI accreditations that encompass both European and US standards.
This flexibility proves invaluable when working in countries following different frameworks. Whether our clients operate within the US, Europe or other regions, we ensure our certifications align with the relevant standards.
As we expand our scope to include Chinese and South Korean markets, we are exploring the applicable frameworks and looking to obtain the relevant accreditations. The key message is that international firms seeking world-class training can trust that NITI caters to their specific standards and delivers exceptional quality.

In what ways has the market acknowledged NITI’s accomplishments?
Because the market has recognised us is probably why NITI is the only institute that twice won the King Abdulaziz Quality Award, the kingdom’s most prestigious quality award. In a 2022 nationwide ranking for training facilities made by the TVTC, NITI was ranked third in the country and number one in the oil and gas and energy sectors.
We aim to maintain and enhance our position as a preferred and reliable partner for companies seeking to do business in Saudi Arabia. We do this by working hand in hand with our clients at every step of the process.

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