MANAMA: The existing global downturn had had a negligible effect on Bahrain with unemployment rates among Bahrainis being maintained at a low 3.5 per cent, Labour Minister Dr Majeed Al Alawi said yesterday.
On the other hand, there was evidence that no jobs were being lost due to the economic meltdown with more expatriates coming into Bahrain to take up employment than those leaving the country after finishing their stay in the last three months, he said.
Speaking during a luncheon meeting of the Bahrain India Society at the Gulf Hotel's Awal Room, the minister said the International Labour Organisation as well as the Arab Labour Organisation had termed Bahrain as being the 'safest' economy in the region.
"We are also the only country in the Middle East that publishes a monthly list of unemployed people with all relevant details like their ages, sex and their qualifications as well as how long they had been unemployed and the regions they belonged to."
He said the list is distributed to all employers, the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as other stakeholders.
"We are creating more and more job opportunities for both Bahrainis and non-Bahrainis in the private sector and the economy is growing all the time.
"We are affected but not as much as the rest of the region and the world. We will come out of this crisis the strongest and the fastest. Globally, there have been tens of millions of job cuts and the world is facing a severe crisis. Here in Bahrain, we are better off," the minister said.
He said the Bahraini unemployment rate in 2006 topped 15 per cent while now it stood continuously at less than 4pc.
"This is testimony to our policies and the pro-active approach by the government to tackle the unemployment problem over the years."
He said it were only a matter of time before a new labour law was enacted.
He said there is no move to scrap a BD10 fee that had been levied on companies for expatriate workers.
Earlier, the minister was welcomed by the society chairman and former labour minister Abdul Nabi Al Sho'ala.
The event was attended by around 200 people, among them several top industrialists, businessmen and bankers.
mandeep@gdn.com.bh
