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UAE Yearbook 2010
in a similar vein, opening a two-day forum entitled advancing and retaining uae nationals in the workplace , minister of higher education and scientific research sheikh nahyan bin mubarak al nahyan said: emiratisation is a necessary, but sometimes elusive, goal. at first glance, it appears that full employment of citizens of the uae should be a fairly simple matter. the number of people seeking employment, after all, is relatively small when compared to the large number of jobs required to drive our nation. however, there are many complications connected with social, economic and technological considerations that affect the placement of nationals seeking employment for emiratisation to succeed, we must explore ways to increase the share of employment for nationals in the private sector. we seek a situation where every private sector employer develops and implements a plan to aggressively recruit and employ nationals. we need a proactive role from all corners of the private economy: first to help articulate their employment needs; second to create and seek to fill appropriate employment opportunities for nationals in their companies; and third, to provide on-the-job training programmes to enable nationals to develop the skills and experience to advance in their companies we must develop strategies with private sector employers to help persuade nationals that employment in the private sector is highly desirable. we must work to overcome flawed stereotyping of nationals as employees; and we must provide data and information about different careers and job openings to students and others seeking work across the country labour-friendly measures labour issues have taken centre stage in the uae s development process in recent years. this is not only due to the importance of new projects, which are driving the country s economy, but also due to the fastchanging policies related to expatriate workers rights and welfare. numerous efforts are being undertaken to ensure the safety of workers, guarantee payment of wages on time and to improve living and working conditions, as well as strict enforcement of law to minimise violations. according to the labour ministry s 2008 2009 report, there are 4.1 million workers in the private sector, an increase of more than 30 per cent over the previous year. despite the challenges, the uae is aiming to manage and govern the working environment in line with international laws and best international labour practices. 162 > uae 2010
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