GCC countries exert immense effort to face unemployment

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are exerting all possible effort in facing challenges of unemployment through offering job opportunities and elevating qualification of citizens as a way towards nationalization of workforce in the gulf region, Bahraini Minister of Labor Jameel Hamdan said on Monday. The minister added in a speech he gave at the opening ceremony of "Nationalization of workforce in the GCC countries" three-day conference, that the GCC countries allocated huge financial resources for this purpose which decreased the rates of unemployment. The GCC countries offer social protection to unemployed citizens through an insurance system against unemployment, besides supporting the private sector institutions to enable them benefit larger numbers of citizens, he affirmed. The global financial crisis was one of the main factors hampering any effort to offer further job opportunities, while the economic recovery might help in providing new job chances, Hamdan added. International reports indicate that unemployment rates among the youth will increase during the next five years, which urge the GCC countries to set proper policies to solve this dilemma, he said. Youth are the most affected segment of the society by the slow economic recovery, he stated. The joint cooperation between the government and the private sector will help in building a stable economic infrastructure, he affirmed.