U.A.E. pushes private sector to maintain provision of decent work opportunities

GENEVA: The United Arab Emirates enjoys a strong economic structure that has helped in providing tremendous business opportunities in different economic sectors which is reflected in last year’s Dh1.4 trillion GDP, without the support the oil industry, said Khalifa Khamis Mattar Al Kaabi, a member of the U.A.E. delegation to the International Labour Organisation conference. A member of the board to represent employers in west Asian countries, Mr. Al Kaabi told the conference, "The United Arab Emirates is considered a hub for more than 25% of the top 500 corporations worldwide, and global reports expect a continuation in the economy's growth, achieving up to 5% during the current year. This, without a doubt, enabled the U.A.E. to provide employment opportunities for millions from around the world and we expect to see more international reports with this increased growth, especially after getting the chance to host Expo 2020." He highlighted business owners commitment in providing decent work opportunities for all employees, in partnership with the U.A.E. government, expressing pride in the contributions made by labourers who worked hard to build up a stable infrastructure, which seeks to achieve U.A.E.’s 2021 vision in advancing development and promoting investment through a competitive highly productive economy. He also pinpointed the initiative made by the Ministries of Labour in the U.A.E. and Kuwait to host the Abu Dhabi dialogue in collaboration with some companies in the construction sector and a number of labour-sending countries represented by the Philippines, Pakistan and India. The initiative aims at establishing a labourers skill recognition mechanism through experience certificates that would be documented and recognised in both labour-sending/receiving countries as part of the workers benefits. "I’d like to also point out some of the negative practices held by private employment agencies in labour-sending countries which basically involve not clarifying the worker s duties which result in a negative attitude towards accepting the offer after the worker had been received by his company in one of the labour receiving countries, and that would dramatically affect the employers' for paying recruitment expenses without benefits," Al-Kabbi said. He also identified Abu Dhabi Dialogue s role to monitor and cut down the above cases specifically in advising labour-sending countries to reduce negative practices by these private recruitment agencies and protect labourers rights. – Emirates News Agency, WAM