QNA
Geneva
Minister of Manpower of Egypt Hassan Shehata has affirmed his great confidence in Qatar’s success in leading the 111th International Labor Conference after being elected as its president. He also commended Qatar’s support for development in the region, which has a positive impact on the labor market in Arab societies.
In an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), Shehata said that his country supports and appreciates the role of Qatar in representing the Arab voice in the International Labor Organization, through its presidency of the 111th session of the International Labor Conference.
He explained that Qatar’s presidency of the 111th session of the International Labor Conference reflected a culture built on collective work and consultative dialogue; noting that these aspects are not new to Qatar which possesses all capabilities that qualify it to consider Arab interests as well as addressing the challenges facing the region.
The Egyptian minister praised Qatar’s support for development in the region through its developmental initiatives and investment projects, which have had a positive impact on the labor market in Arab societies and have made significant contributions to reducing unemployment rates in Arab communities.
He highlighted the importance of the reforms made in the Qatari labour market to ensure workers’ rights, stressing that Qatar’s election as president of the International Labour Conference is a clear evidence of the significance of these reforms and developments that have taken place in the Qatari market, with the testimony of the International Labor Organization.
The Egyptian minister underlined that Qatar’s development and investment projects and initiatives in the region contribute greatly to initiating a development process in many needy countries in the Middle East.
“These endeavors represent a genuine ethical role before being economic or investment-related, and Qatar deserves recognition and appreciation for its efforts,” he said.
On the Qatari-Egyptian relations, the minister affirmed that the relations between the two countries have been growing in various fields, and this has been indicated by the recent visits between the leaders of the two countries and their respective cabinets.
He noted that the recently announced Qatari investments amount to billions of dollars, which has a positive impact on the Egyptian labor market, especially the investments that create job opportunities and projects that drive development on grounds.
He added that cooperation between the two countries continues, and the Egyptian Ministry of Manpower is open to collaboration with its Qatari counterpart. There are ongoing discussions to attract more Egyptian labor to the Qatari markets, indicating the close relationship between the two sisterly nations. Additionally, there are continuous agreements and partnerships in various forms of cooperation. He looked forward to promoting the joint cooperation in more areas, especially since the labor file is interconnected with all other areas.
The Egyptian minister stressed the importance of joint Arab action which has become of a great necessity to enhance means of cooperation in many areas, including training and qualification, vocational training, exchange of experiences, technical cooperation, and pumping more intra-investments.
He noted that the ILO has revealed alarming figures indicating that there are 207 million unemployed people worldwide. Additionally, more than 4 billion people worldwide lack social protection, and there are over 160 million children in the labor market. He emphasized that Arab labor markets are not immune to these challenges.
The Egyptian minister pointed out that his country has been able to overcome most of the challenges facing the labor market. This has been achieved through various programmes and decisions implemented by the Egyptian Ministry of Manpower.
