• Home
• /
• coronavirus
• /
• Life and Living

Indian think tank lauds UAE employment strategy, predicts post-Covid economic recovery in GCC

New Delhi - 'National Employment Strategy 2031 aims to provide human resource with the skills required for the labour market'

The UAE’s National Employment Strategy 2031 has been cited as a milestone in human resource development by the Indian government’s leading think tank on research and policy, the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.

"In the UAE, the National Employment Strategy 2031 aims to provide human resource with the skills required for the labour market," says the Institute’s just released policy paper on the subject "Labour Sector Reforms in the GCC and Challenges for Indian Expatriates."

"The new Emirati school model curriculum focuses on skilling students with critical thinking, innovation, teamwork and utilising information technology in problem solving," says the paper written for the Institute by Lakshmi Priya, its Research Analyst who specializes in West Asia.

The Middle East is commonly referred to in India by the geographical description of West Asia.

"Furthermore, the level of education among women is rising and they are joining the workforce more and more. Social and cultural barriers that were hindering women from joining the public spaces are loosening up," she writes with reference to the ongoing reforms in Saudi Arabia. "There is simultaneous movement towards greater use of technology and automation in the Gulf countries."

The Manohar Parrikar Institute conducts relevant studies on all aspects of India’s security. Its latest paper would come under the rubric of employment security.

In this context, the paper suggests that "India needs to closely monitor the labour market reforms and developments in the GCC countries. Given that India has a large migrant population gainfully employed in the Gulf, who also send a significant amount in remittances annually, it is important that the trends in labour market in the Gulf are systematically studied."

It concludes on an optimistic note. "Though it is likely that once the GCC economies start to recover from the impact of the pandemic, the migrants will start returning, the changes being brought in the labour market to address some of the longstanding socio-economic issues will have a long term impact on the Indian expatriates in the GCC."

The document recommends to the Indian government that "one of the first steps is to create a database and develop programmes through joint public-private initiatives to deal with migration as well as provide better skills to people seeking employment in the GCC countries."

The UAE’s National Employment Strategy 2031 was launched in November 2018, during the UAE Government’s second Annual Meetings by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation.

The strategy aims to support the UAE government’s efforts to build a knowledge-based economy by empowering labour productivity, providing national human resources with the skills required for the labour market, promoting entrepreneurship and training in future skills and skill development programmes, among other things.