DUBAI: The UAE wants to increase the number of its citizens employed in the private sector tenfold by 2021, and will intervene in the labor market if necessary to reach that goal, the prime minister said.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum was listing the government’s policy goals for the next seven years in a speech to more than 300 officials in Abu Dhabi.
“Our goal is to increase the Emiratization in the private sector tenfold. The government will enforce a number of measures if there is not enough incentive for working in the private sector,” Sheikh Mohammed said, quoted by WAM.
Fewer than 15 percent of the UAE’s roughly 9 million people are estimated to be local citizens; most of the rest are foreign workers. More than two-thirds of the UAE citizens in employment work in the public sector, the International Monetary Fund says.
Sheikh Mohammed did not elaborate on what steps the government might take.
Officials have been considering a range of options, including changing labor laws to make private sector employment more attractive for UAE citizens, and imposing a tax on foreign workers’ remittances of money to their home countries, which could make it more expensive to hire foreigners.
The UAE government is keen to move more of its citizens to the private sector to diversify the economy and ease pressure on state finances. Any steps the government takes are likely to be cautious, because of the risk of raising costs for companies and deterring foreign investment.
Sheikh Mohammed also indicated the government would focus on housing construction, saying it wanted to shorten the waiting period for its citizens to obtain housing after they filed applications to two years from five years at present.
UAE vows to boost private sector jobs for nationals
UAE vows to boost private sector jobs for nationals
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IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva commends GCC economic success
DUBAI: The managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, has commended the Gulf’s economic success and said she admires its efforts.
Speaking at the World Governments Summit on Tuesday, Georgieva said discussions with ministers of finance and central bank governors in the region were showing maturity, which helped them move their economies forward.
“If you want to compete in the world we are today, you have to come up with a sense of purpose and unity and the Gulf has demonstrated capacity to do so,” she added.
Georgieva said she admired what the Gulf Cooperation Council had done with investing in human capital and recognizing the importance of dialogue and cooperation: “Because you have invested in human capital before AI took over, you have such a strong comparative advantage today when this new technology is coming to life.”
She also urged Gulf countries to learn from Europe’s mistakes.
“In the Gulf I am enthusiastic about what I see, there is more interest in harmonization of regulations, more collective decision making and focus on interregional trade,” she said. “Potential for that is huge and the Gulf is thinking about how to make the GCC a more impactful institution. Don't copy European institutions, they are too complicated.”
Georgieva added that, despite political challenges and obstacles, the world still needed trading.
“Trade is like water, you put an obstacle and it moves around it,” she said. “The world is trading because the majority of small and medium sized countries can’t produce anything at home and they need an integrated global economy.
“We live in a world of exhaustive shocks, we live in a world of uncertainty, this is not going to change.”
Georgieva also urged governments to get their economies in the best possible order and to cooperate with their neighbors to build economic bridges and connections.
