(MENAFN- Gulf Times)
By Denise Marray/Gulf Times Correspondent /London
The role of talented Qatari nationals in developing a vibrant private sector in the country is vital said HE the Minister of Development Planning and Statistics Dr Saleh Mohamed Salem al-Nabit. In developing a diversified and sustainable economy with an emphasis on specialised knowledge “it is very important for Qatar to produce graduates capable of working in the knowledge economy” he said in his keynote speech at the Chatham House conference in London.
Speaking on ‘Mena Economies: Diversification Growth and Employment’ al-Nabit dwelt upon the encouraging numbers of talented Qatari nationals taking up careers in the private sector. He noted that within the national universities there is an ongoing focus on aligning programmes with the specialisations required to ensure that Qatar can compete globally.
The importance of developing the private sector within the GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council) was a theme that emerged strongly over the two-day conference.
Participants were mostly speaking under the Chatham House rule whereby comments can be recorded but not attributed. This allows for freedom of expression and unconstrained debate.
Speakers included GCC finance ministers representatives of organisations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and leading experts on the region.
What emerged was real concern about the way the public sector in many Gulf countries is still regarded as the most desirable employer by many young people. A public sector job is widely seen not just as providing secure employment but also offering a clearly defined career path and conferring social status. This remained true even though earning potential in the private sector and through entrepreneurship is often much greater.
It was remarked that while a public sector employee could progress up the managerial ladder a talented engineer in the private sector often had no such clearly mapped out route for promotion. So while there was a desire to build a knowledge economy the structures and institutions were not sufficiently supportive.
It was suggested that one way to trim the public sector would be to put a brake on replacing people once a job is vacated: an employment freeze. But for example within Saudi Arabia the public sector is expected to continue to play a prominent role in the job market.
Because many GCC nationals expect to earn higher salaries than non-nationals in the private sector it is all too often the case that they are over-looked by companies which are not prepared to pay a premium for talent they can get at a cheaper price.
Why do nationals expect to earn more One explanation put forward was that while for example a GCC national would probably be supporting quite a large group of extended family members a foreigner would probably be working as an expat with fewer family financial obligations than the national. There was also a desire among Gulf nationals to maintain a standard of living that had become part of the expected ‘norm’.
How can this problem be overcome One suggestion was that governments should step in and be prepared to pay companies ‘top ups’ to ensure that the salary expectations of nationals can be met and their talents utilised. This practical measure it was suggested could help to solve the problem of home grown talent being lost to the economy with all the cultural and social downside that loss entails.
It was also stated that companies winning tenders and operating in the region should have to comply with more stringent measures to ensure employment and training for nationals. The government it was suggested should also take a lead in ensuring that nationals are employed in for example its airlines and in the hospitality sector where they are largely unrepresented.
It was noted that a disaffected educated middle class that felt disengaged from the government was potentially very destabilising to GCC countries. As one speaker put it he was not concerned so much about the lower skilled nationals he was more worried about the educated becoming alienated through lack of career prospects and under-utilisation of their potential.
It was questioned whether the goals of preserving national identity and building economic growth were compatible. Governments were asked to examine exactly what they wanted from economic growth and diversification.
Looking at the Gulf it was suggested that the countries currently under the most pressure in the context of aligning their economies to global realities and matching labour force with needs are Bahrain and Oman. Saudi was described as being under stress while Qatar the UAE and Kuwait are seen to be in a stronger position. However the strong buffers in place in these countries do not alleviate the need for fiscal adjustment it was noted.
With regard to developing SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) the cultural attitude towards failure was seen as having a stifling effect on developing this sector. People needed to be given room to fail and learn from their mistakes in the early stages in order to eventually succeed in building their own enterprises.
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