Shopping malls in Saudi Arabia to employ locals only

RIYADH, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Saudi labor ministry issued an order on Thursday to restrict jobs at shopping malls to only Saudi nationals, local news channel Al Arabiya reported.

The ministry announced the decision on its tweet, without elaborating when it will be enforced.

According to statistics released 2016 by the Vision 2030 economic reform plan, there are 1.5 million employees working in the retail sector in the country, of whom only 300,000 are Saudis.

Saudi Arabia plans to reduce the unemployment rate of current 12 percent to 9 percent in 2020 and 7 percent in 2030.