The UAE Cabinet has approved a new draft law to protect the rights of domestic workers and their employers.

“We have approved a new draft law for the domestic workers in the UAE. The new law shall protect the rights of both workers and employers,” said Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

“Our Islamic values always encourage us to preserve the rights of the workers and to treat them well, and the law is emphasising this,” read a Twitter post by Shaikh Mohammed.

Under the law, sections will be set up in the residency departments across the country to look into and sort out disputes that arise between domestic workers and their employers, Major General Nasser Al Awadi Al Menhali, Under-Secretary in the Ministry of Interior, Assistant Under-Secretary for Naturalisation, Residency and Ports, told Dubai newspaper Gulf News.

“The law is meant to protect the rights and obligations of both sides, so as to guarantee their interests and rights,” Major General Al Menhali said, but gave no further details.

The bill was drafted by a team of representatives from the ministries of interior, labour and justice.
It needs to be passed by the Federal National Council and signed into law by President Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The law aligns the UAE’s rules with the International Labour Organisation’s Convention 189 and Recommendation 201 on decent work for domestic workers, which was ratified by the UAE last year. The convention provides for clearly defined conditions of employment before work begins, including payment of recruitment agency fees by employers and not deducted from staff’s wages, salary payment in cash at least once a month and at least one weekly day off.

The convention also provides that domestic help receives a written contract of employment before starting work.

Iraq deeply mistrusts private security companies and wants to limit their operations here, officials say, while the contractors themselves have faced bureaucratic delays and detentions.

This mistrust stems from perceived arrogant behavior by employees of these firms in the past and various incidents of violence involving them.

The most infamous incident was the 2007 killing of at least 14 civilians in Baghdad’s Nisur Square by gunmen from the Blackwater firm guarding a US embassy convoy.

While Blackwater, now called ACADEMI, was later banned from the country, security contractors still guard US diplomats in Iraq and provide security for various foreign companies.

“Iraq is not looking to expand the security companies’ work here,” government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in an interview with AFP.

“We feel that Iraq should move to the normal life — we don’t want to see the tens of the security companies taking the job of the ministry of interior.

“Iraq has got a not friendly history with the security companies, especially … Blackwater, and we don’t want to repeat that crisis again. So, we would like to limit their work here in Iraq, but we don’t want to stop them,” Dabbagh said.

The firms “have to understand that … they don’t have free (movement) in the country. They have to follow the instruction, they have to hold the permit, a valid permit, and they are not allowed to violate the Iraqi laws

“They are not exempted as before, and they are not getting any sort of immunity,” he said.

“We do need them, definitely, we do need them, (and) we are not going to stop them, but definitely, we will limit their work,” Dabbagh said.

The matter has also drawn the attention of parliament’s security and defence committee.

“After discussions with the interior ministry, we found that there are around 65 security companies, more than half of them Iraqi and the remainder foreign,” committee member MP Abbas al-Bayati told AFP.

Bayati said a small committee created to study the issue wants security companies to use only light weapons, and that they should obtain permission to move outside pre-determined areas.

The large number of contractors “negatively impacts the security situation in the country,” Iskander Witwit, another member of the committee, told AFP.

GULF economies are expected to continue their economic growth for the second year in a row, because of strong crude prices and high regional production.

Although their economies will slow down this year due to slightly lower crude prices and global financial upheaval, the real GDP in the GCC will remain positive and relatively high in some members, according to a study by Kuwaiti investment bank Global Investment House (GIH).
The report estimated that the GCC members recorded a budget surplus of around $183 billion in 2011-12 fiscal year, while the surplus could edge down to nearly $179 billion in 2012-13 due to a surge in spending.

It said, Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy, is expected to account for nearly 45 per cent of the 2012-13 GCC surplus, with around $80 billion.

The report projected the surplus at just under $60 billion in Kuwait, $20 billion in Qatar, $18 billion in the UAE and just over $1 billion in Oman. Bahrain will be an exception, as it is expected to suffer from a shortfall.

“In Bahrain, political conditions have improved since the turmoil in the first quarter of 2011. The country’s financial sector, which accounts for 25 per cent of GDP, was hit hard and saw various banking and investment giants pulling their operations out of the country.

“We anticipate Bahrain’s nominal GDP to grow by 3.5 per cent in 2012 and expect it to report a budget deficit, as the country will face tough competition from its more-stable neighbours for financial services and tourism business,” said GIH.

According to the report, Saudi Arabia needs a breakeven oil price of $84.5 to balance its budget in 2012, while the breakeven prices for UAE is $80. Given its high spending and low oil output, the GIH estimated prices at $67.6 for Kuwait, $46 for Qatar, $75 for Oman and as high as $107.5 for Bahrain.

“Despite the economic turmoil and slowdown worldwide, GCC region continued to fare better than other regional economies with an estimated nominal and real GDP growth of 24.3 and 6.9 per cent in 2011, respectively,” said GIH in its economic section in the 132-page report.

“High oil price and increased production ensured continued healthy revenues in the GCC countries. Apart from higher oil prices, the growth was ensued by robust incremental government spending worth over $100 billion in 2011,” it said.

GDP growth in 2012 is expected to be lower than in 2011 in both real and nominal cases. “A weaker global outlook will result in a more tough economic environment for the GCC and will present considerable downside risks to oil prices, which are the core factor for nominal GDP growth,” said GIH.

A breakdown showed real GDP would grow by around 3.8 per cent in 2012, compared with 3.3 per cent in 2011 in the UAE, 3.6 per cent against 6.8 per cent in Saudi Arabia and 4.5 per cent against 5.7 per cent in Kuwait.

Citing projections by the Indian Monetary Fund and other sources, the report put growth in Oman at 3.6 per cent this year compared with 4.4 per cent in 2011 and in Bahrain at 3.6 per cent against 1.5 per cent in the same period.

Qatar, the world’s top LNG (liquefied natural gas) supplier, will see its GDP growth tumble to nearly 6 per cent this year from as high as 18.7 per cent in 2011 and 16.6 per cent in 2010, according to the report.

The Indian Monetary Fund and other reports have expected Qatar’s economy to revert to normal growth rates after a sharp rise over the past years, following the recent completion of mega LNG projects that allowed the tiny Gulf nation to pump as much as 77 million tonnes of LNG per year.

THE UAE is expected to record the highest job growth in the region in 2012. If 2011 was a year that saw the UAE’s jobs market stabilise after a recessionary couple of years, experts expect 2012 to be the year the country sees biggest job growth in the region.
Industries that are expected to drive job creation are technology, healthcare, education, retail and telecom, according to recruitment experts in the country.

“The governmental and semi-governmental sectors will lead the way, because of the increased spending by the governments of each country, in order to keep a high growth rate, support nationalisation and develop the infrastructure of the country,” said Konstantina Sakellariou, Partner, Marketing & Operations Director at Stanton Chase, as quoted by Dubai-based news portal Emirates 24|7.

“Additionally, the industrial sector seems to be among the strongest ones, especially given the emphasis of all the GCC countries in developing industrial free zones that will attract more and more businesses. Technology, education and healthcare are also important sectors that will experience growth in the Gulf,” she added.

According to recruiting experts, telecom, healthcare and even education, are among industries where the greatest salary increases are likely to be given in 2012.
According to Hasnain Qazi, Middle East Business Manager at Huxley Associates, “healthcare, education and telecom will be the three most-buoyant sectors taking into consideration the micro and macroeconomic conditions.”

Considering its growth potential in the country and the region, the technology sector is expected to contribute to pay hikes and job creation next year as well.

“Technology will lead job growth, as most companies have an online window to their business. The equity of the CIO is continually rising as well. Technology is intimately tied to risk, compliance and legal, which all companies have a growth agenda with,” said Shane Phillips, MENA Regional Practice Leader – Financial and Professional Services at Stanton Chase.
“The year 2012 and beyond will be the age of corporate governance in the Middle East and companies will be investing heavily in controls and IT systems, such as ERP and SAP to ensure they reduce their risks. New advances in technology will allow companies to reduce costs and create competitive advantages, so investments here will pay dividends in the relatively short-term. So, technology will be a good growth area,” added Mr Phillips.

A recent survey carried out by Bayt provides insight into the hiring trend that can be expected next year.

“(Our) Q4 2011 job index showed that over the next three months, 21 per cent of companies in the UAE will be ‘definitely hiring’, with a further 28 per cent ‘probably hiring’. The majority of these jobs are likely to come from the private sector which, regionally, has the highest hiring levels; survey statistics show that multi-national companies will offer the most jobs, with 30 per cent of them ‘definitely hiring’.

“This is followed by large local companies (29 per cent) and small & medium local enterprises (27 per cent). From the public sector (including government, charities, semi and quasi-public companies), 22 per cent stated that they will be ‘definitely hiring’ in the next three months,” said Amer Zureikat, Sales Vice-President at <Bayt.com>.