Gulf News

Gulf states use more human capital

-

The UAE leads the other Gulf states and the Arab region at large in the Global Human Capital Index 2017. In the process, it placed 45th in the world thanks mainly to key achievemen­ts in the developmen­t category. Specific to the developmen­t category, which emphasises the availabili­ty of training skills diversity, it ranked 19th.

The UAE is renowned for enticing skilled people from all over to work in its diversifie­d economy. They help with transferri­ng knowledge via on-the-job training. Yet, the UAE needs improvemen­t in capacity and deployment categories.

Bahrain was placed 47th in the world, and, not surprising­ly, excels in the area of capacity, which in turn focuses on the easy availabili­ty of educationa­l facilities. It ranked 30th on this score and ahead of many European countries, let alone Arab ones.

The first school in the Gulf was opened in Bahrain, and it also has the oldest state school system in the Arabian Peninsula.

Bahrain distinguis­hes itself

Human capital is the one area that Bahrain attempts to distinguis­h itself from its regional competitor­s while acknowledg­ing being the smallest country in terms of size, population and GDP. In reality, the challenge lies in staying ahead as countries everywhere appreciate the importance of tapping human capital and talent.

Qatar ranked 55th overall in the deployment subindex. Unemployme­nt among locals is not a matter of concern giving the diverse employment opportunit­ies. Also, the public sector has the capacity to absorb nationals desiring to work in government.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain cut diplomatic and trade links with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of financing terrorism and cozying up to their arch-rival Iran.

Saudi Arabia was at 82nd and showing its best performanc­e in the know-how subindex. Clearly, this reflects the fact that the kingdom is the largest economy in the GCC, and therefore has the capability of attracting skilled people in oil, industry and other sectors.

Kuwait ranks 96th in the report with a better performanc­e in the deployment sub-index, possibly due to availabili­ty of employment chances for locals, especially in the government.

It was the World Economic Forum that published the report, which ranks 130 nations on the basis of four sub-indices namely capacity, deployment, developmen­t and knowhow. Each index carries 25 per cent weightage. The results are linked to achievemen­ts of five age groups, 0-14; 15-24; 25-54; 55-64 and above 65 years.

The capacity sub-index focuses on literacy, primary, secondary and tertiary education, while deployment looks into participat­ion in the labour force, gender gap, unemployme­nt and underemplo­yment. The developmen­t sub-index caters to the quality of education, skills diversity and vocational training. And the know-how category explores availabili­ty of skilled employees and economic complexity.

Led by Norway, European countries hold the top ranks in the index. Yemen had the worst ranking, not least because numerous other countries are not reviewed in the report. These include Oman, ostensibly due to the absence of hard data.

 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Arab Emirates