RIYADH, Feb 2: Saudi Arabia, striving to create more jobs for nationals, decided on Sunday to lower the number of foreigners in the kingdom to a maximum of 20 per cent of its indigenous population within the next decade.

The decision, issued by Interior Minister and chairman of the Manpower Council Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz also stipulates a quota system for foreign nationalities in which any nationality must not exceed 10 per cent of the total.

There are between six and seven million foreign workers and family members living in Saudi Arabia, where the indigenous population is estimated at around 17 million.—AFP