GCC labor ministers discuss employment, residency issues

The first meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ministers of labor which kick-started here earlier Wednesday discussed the initiatives aiming to create more jobs in the private sector, the freedom to move, reside and work, and the measures to ensure equality among the GCC citizens.
In a keynote speech, Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and Minister of State for Planning and Development Affairs Hind Al-Sabeeh said the meeting aims to enforce the resolutions of the GCC Supreme Council relating to labor sector.
"The meeting also aims to review the implementation of the resolution of the 127th session, held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 2013 which provides for setting up GCC ministerial ad hoc panels on labor," she noted.
The Kuwaiti minister highlighted the importance of coordinating the stances of the GCC states on labor issues and developing programs and strategies for cooperation in this regard.
"The meeting will also mull the enforcement of the outcomes of the youth conference and ways to turn the GCC guidelines into national laws," Al-Sabeeh went on.
On his part, GCC Secretary-General Dr. Abdullatif Al-Zayani voiced hope that the current meeting of the ministerial committee will give momentum to the GCC march towards integration in the labor and social affairs domain at the behest of the leaders of the GCC states.
"The GCC technical office will continue coordinating the actions of the labor ministries of the GCC countries and the GCC Secretariat pursuant to the resolution of the 86th session of the GCC Ministerial Council," he affirmed.
Dr. Al-Zayani cited recent international reports as urging for the amendment of the imbalances in the GCC labor markets.
He called for coordinating the labor policies in keeping with the economic, educational and youth care policies in order to make the GCC countries better able to address the current challenges and less reliant on foreign labor