Minister of Labour briefed IMF delegation on the Kingdom's initiatives to promote sustainability, labour market growth and support the business environment

07-02-2023

H.E. Mr. Jameel bin Mohammed Ali Humaidan, Minister of Labour and Chairman of the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) stressed that the Kingdom of Bahrain is keen to enhance the sustainability of the growth of the labour market and develop its policies to further attract investments and generate more quality opportunities. The minister also praised Bahrain's attractive work environment, and the provision of various training programs to rehabilitate national human resources and facilitate their integration into various commercial and economic establishments in the private sector because of its pivotal role alongside the public sector in supporting the goals of the broader development. This came during the meeting of HE the Minister of Labour with the IMF delegation visiting the Kingdom of Bahrain, headed by Ms. Asmaa A. El Ganainy, in the presence of HH Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Labour, HE CEO of the Labour Market Regulatory Authority Nouf Abdulrahman Jamsheer and a number of officials in the ministry. The visit of the IMF delegation comes within the framework of the existing cooperation between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the International Monetary Fund and other specialized international organizations. This aim is to exchange and evaluate experiences and work to develop them to serve the development goals and national priorities in the Kingdom. During the meeting, HE the Minister reviewed the Kingdom's experience in launching qualitative initiatives for employment programs and providing social protection. Humaidan pointed out the results achieved in this regard through an increase in employment rates and a decrease in the rates of job seekers at the end of 2022, as well as programs to support women and promote the principles of competition and equality in the labour market. His Excellency also briefed the delegation on the procedures for doing business in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the advanced legislation in the movement and protection of expatriate workers in accordance with international labour standards, and its efforts to combat all forms of discrimination and address any practices in the field of human trafficking. In this context, HE the Minister of Labour also touched on the new projects launched by the Kingdom of Bahrain to support the business environment, foremost of which is the Wage Protection System for expatriate workers. He also talked about the induction of specialised training packages for university graduates to provide them with professional skills to rehabilitate them for the labour market, in order to achieve greater alignment between education versus training outputs and the needs of the market. For her part, Ms. Asmaa El Ganainy, Head of the IMF delegation, praised the efforts of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain in launching initiatives and incentives to sustain the growth of the labour market and provide more qualitative opportunities in various fields. She also expressed her thanks for the cooperation provided by the Ministry of Labour and the Labour Market Regulatory Authority to the World Bank delegation by reviewing the Kingdom's experience in this regard.