On the 5th anniversary of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz's accession to the throne, we are delighted to congratulate the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud; Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General; Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior; the royal family; and the Saudi people. During the reign of the King, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has witnessed major developments in all economic, political, social and educational spheres.
On this occasion, it is important to highlight the achievements accomplished by GOSI during the King's prosperous era. Such achievements do complement the accomplishments sought since the country was founded by late King Abdulaziz Al Saud.
Since its establishment in 1390H., GOSI has made significant developments in the social insurance field. The Social Insurance Law was applied to all establishments with one or more workers in order to cover a larger category of citizens and residents. The number of contributors in employment has exceeded 4.5 million and the number of establishments registered with the scheme has reached more than 237,000. GOSI has also paid attention to lower-income groups by introducing minimum pensions and benefits in addition to facilitating the terms of eligibility and taking into account the cases of retirement, disability, illness, death, divorce and widowhood. The total amounts paid by GOSI fund have exceeded SR 65 billion, while more than SR 681 million are paid for over 252,000 beneficiaries as monthly pensions. Furthermore, all GOSI transactions are managed by national cadres. In fact, the care given by GOSI represents a pillar in the national structure at social and economic levels.
Moreover, GOSI plays a prominent role in financial and real estate investments. Several real estate projects amounting to more than SR five billion are owned by GOSI in Riyadh, Madinah, Yanbu, Jubail and Makkah. GOSI has owner equities in domestic companies amounted to more than SR 64 billion. Also, GOSI invests the contributions according to specific long-term investment plan that depends on finding sources of income and fixed returns in order to meet GOSI liabilities to the beneficiaries.
GOSI investment plan aims to invest in long-term projects that result in steady returns with low risk in accordance with the economic feasibility study. These projects have contributed to advancing the economic development in the country.
At the technology level, GOSI has developed its electronic systems and become among the first government agencies that applied the e-government concept. Therefore, GOSI clients, either employers or contributors, can electronically communicate with GOSI through "e-GOSI" channels. This is considered a quantum leap in the field of e-government applications, as these e-channels are designed to serve all bodies dealing with GOSI systems. Moreover, the e-channels allow some government agencies to exchange information with GOSI systems, and enable employers to perform all related works such as registering and excluding workers; changing worker wages; paying worker contributions; and reviewing establishment accounts. The contributors and treatment bodies can also benefit from these e-channels in various ways.
In 2006, GOSI launched the Short Message Service (SMS) to communicate with contributors, employers and beneficiaries. Through this service, the contributor is informed about some processed procedures such as the completion of his registration, and provided with his contribution number, registered wage and establishment name. The beneficiary can also receives a short message informing him about the status of his claim for social insurance entitlements in addition to reminding him about the date of payment of such entitlements or the suspension of payment of pension as a result of not renewing annual declaration or not appearing to undergo medical examination.
The Social Insurance Law has allowed Saudi citizens who are working abroad to voluntarily contribute to the scheme. Moreover, "the Law for Portability of Benefit Rights between the Civil and Military Retirement Schemes and the Social Insurance Scheme" was issued to allow citizens to aggregate their services under the civil or military retirement schemes with that under the social insurance scheme or vice versa. The comprehensive insurance system was completed among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Members States by applying "the Unified Law of Insurance Protection Extension for the Gulf Cooperation Council State Citizens Working outside their Countries" as of January 2006.
On behalf of GOSI employees and myself, I express the deepest thanks and gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud; Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General; and Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior, for their continued support and care for GOSI works. I pray to Allah Almighty to bless this country with more prosperity and security, and to guide the leaders of this nation to all success.
Soliman Sa'ad Al-Humayyd
Governor