The Council of Ministers on Monday instructed the Ministry of Labor and Social Development to make electronic Ijar system mandatory for the issuance and renewal of work permits for non-Saudis. Cabinet directed the Ministry to coordinate with the Ministry of Housing to work out the necessary mechanism. All real estate firms have to join its electronic Ijar system, which was developed in 2014 by the Ministry of Housing in coordination with the ministries of Commerce and Interior. The aim is to regulate the rental market with measures to protect the rights of landlords and tenants, and control rents. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labor and Social Development urged private sector firms to take advantage of the ministry’s system for borrowing government staff. In an order issued in September last year, the Ministry stated that borrowing Saudi employees working in the government sector and universities -for full time job and on the basis of a labour contract- will be calculated in the Nitaqat Saudisation programme. (The Saudi Gazette 2017)