Plan set to replace 85,000 private sector expatriates

Services, finance, management eyed

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 30: Secretary General of Manpower and Government Restructuring Program (MGRP) Fawzi Al-Majdali revealed a fiveyear plan to replace 85,000 expatriate employees of the private sector with Kuwaiti citizens, reports Al-Rai daily.

He explained that the plan will target jobs related to administrative affairs, human resources, public relations, reception and customer service in the private sector, as there are about 4,875 opportunities in those fields, along with 3,365 opportunities in jobs such as assistant manager and financial supervisor. There are also 7,210 jobs as head of department and supervisor in the private sector, 44 administrative consultation positions, 11,220 positions as coordinators and office employees as well as 4,386 registrar positions.

Affirming that this plan will help reduce the unemployment rate as well as amend the problem related to imbalance in the population structure, AlMajdali stressed the need to replace expatriate employees in the private sector with national employees due to the economic situation of the country.

He explained that MGRP will coordinate with the Public Authority for Manpower and ensure work permits are not issued for expatriates for administrative jobs in the private sector. This will in turn obligate the employers to appoint Kuwaitis instead of expatriates. The plan also includes employing children of Kuwaiti women and seeking assistance from retired Kuwaiti employees in case the number of Kuwaitis to take up the vacant jobs is less. When the children of Kuwaiti women and Kuwaiti retirees are hired, they will only get salaries and not the social aid paid by Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor.

Al-Majdali affirmed that the salary aspect will not be an obstacle to the plan for Kuwaiti employees as they will receive social allowance along with the salaries and the national salary subsidy paid by MGRP.

Meanwhile, visits are made to companies of the private sector on a daily basis by inspectors from Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, and the Public Authority for Manpower in order to check on the number of Kuwaiti employees actually present at the workplace and working there, reports AlQabas daily quoting sources.

Two of the world’s largest energy producers, Qatar and Russia, on Wednesday vowed to increase trade ties at a time when the emirate is facing an economic boycott from neighbouring states.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the commitment after a “lengthy” meeting in Doha with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, and before that, the country’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

“We are committed to bolstering trade and economic ties,” Lavrov told reporters afterwards.

He added that Moscow “attached great importance” to economic cooperation, including energy, between the two countries, a sentiment echoed by Sheikh Mohammed.

Russia and Qatar are two of the world’s top four gas producing countries.

Both are also major oil producers, and last year Qatar spent billions on taking a stake in Russia’s state-controlled oil company, Rosneft.

Qatar has turned to expanding its economic ties after a group of countries led by Saudi-Arabia and United Arab Emirates cut off political and trade links with Doha on June 5, initiating the Gulf’s worst political crisis in years.

The bloc accuses Qatar of supporting extremism, a charge the emirate denies.

On the crisis itself, Sheikh Mohammed said there had been little change and accused Saudi and others of ignoring Qatari calls for dialogue.

“Now we have reached 90 days of the crisis we are still in the same position,” he said.

“We haven’t seen any change or development in reaching the end of the crisis.”

He accused Saudi Arabia and its partners of ignoring “on at least 12 different occasions” Qatari calls for talks on resolving the diplomatic impasse.

Lavrov — who has also visited Kuwait and the UAE as part of his Middle East tour — called for all parties to find a solution.

He said the disputing countries should work with regional mediators Kuwait to resolve the crisis.

“We are convinced that there’s a need to seek a solution by searching for mutually beneficial approaches through dialect,” said the Russian foreign minister.

“It’s in our interests for the GCC to be united and strong,” he said, referring to the Gulf Cooperation Council comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday affirmed that Russia is not making an initiative to resolve the inter-GCC crisis indicating that the Kuwaiti mediation remains effective.

Speaking at a news conference with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, Lavrov underlined necessity of finding a solution to the GCC crisis with conciliation, renewed support for the Kuwaiti efforts in this respect and noted Moscow’s readiness to contribute to the bids to reach a settlement.

He denied Russia is also involved in the diplomatic efforts saying, “we are not engaged in the mediation as there is the Kuwaiti mediation.” Russia is concerned that the GCC remain unified, robust and capable of finding solutions to the aggravating problems in the region, he said, noting, “there is no need to create new problems.” Moscow has not presented new ideas or initiatives different from the Kuwaiti and US proposals to solve the Gulf crisis, “and we believe there is no need for that.

“The available suggestions constitute sufficient basis to begin dialogue.” Lavrov said his US counterpart, Rex Tillerson, had expressed desire to play a mediation role, adding that Moscow would applaud US success in this regard.

He indicated that he would visit Jordan and Saudi Arabia in early September to follow up on the issue.

Qatar’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that his country was willing to negotiate an end to a Gulf diplomatic rift but had seen no sign that Saudi Arabia and other countries imposing sanctions on Doha were open to mediation.