The high dependence on expatriate workers poses a considerable challenge to GCC governments, a Bahraini minister said.
Dr Majeed Al Alawi, Bahrain's Minister for Labour and Social Affairs speaking at the opening of a sub-regional seminar on Employment Promotion in the GCC on Sunday called for a strategic policy to decrease the number of foreign workers in the region and increase the number of nationals in the private sector.
"At this stage, we are compelled to deeply look for a policy to increase employment opportunities for GCC nationals in the private sector. There is a need to take measures to decrease the number of expatriates as the foreign workforce in the region is still about three-fifth of the total workforce which is quite a high percentage by all standards."
Al Alawi said the private sector has some responsibility towards society in offering more jobs to the locals.
Speaking at the first session of the five-day conference, Philip Garnier, Head of the Internat-ional Labour Organisation's Regional Office for Arab Countries, said the dependence on the expatiate workforce is a 'complex issue'.
"Our experience has taught us that the issue of nationalisation in labour force in the GCC countries has been a recurrent one, the solution of which cannot be oversimplified. It is a very complicated matter."
Garnier said expatriates constitute 60 per cent of the workforce in Bahrain and they are mostly employed by the private sector.
"In 2001, the percentage of unemployment among the Bahrainis reached 12.7 per cent. Bahraini youth and women and especially first time job-seekers are most affected by this."
He said that 90 per cent of the Bahraini workers are employed in the public sector, "while the private sector is made up of foreign workers."
Gulf News 2003
