DOHA: The private sector which has persistently been opposing any changes to the sponsorship and exit permit rules now seems to have reconciled to the idea of the system being altered for the better.
The sector has lauded the decision of the State Cabinet to allow the Ministry of Interior to set up a committee that will be tasked with studying the sponsorship issue.
The panel is likely to make recommendations so the sponsorship system could be changed apparently to make sure that foreign workers enjoy more freedom.
Private companies are hopeful that once the panel is formed its members would approach them as well and listen to their woes and try to remove them.
Companies have a long list of problems, most prominent among them being that some of them find it difficult to recruit workers from the nationalities of their choice. Then, there are some companies that say they apply for large number of work visas but get approval for only few of them.
“We hope the proposed committee would listen to us and solve these woes,” businessman Ahmed Al Mohannadi told Al Sharq yesterday.
Some sections of the private sector are of the view that if the sponsorship system is removed companies would not have to pay service charges to manpower agencies and spend on air travel of workers. And moreover, if foreign workers enjoy mobility within the Qatari job market, companies could get competent workers without much effort, is another view.
Businessmen are, however, broadly of the opinion that since Qatar is all set to execute huge infrastructure projects partly for the 2022 event and attract more and more foreign workers and professionals, there is the need to reform the sponsorship rules.
“We hope that the exit and entry rules for foreign workers would be eased with the proposed committee making recommendations,” Qassim Al Sharafi told Al Sharq. Expatriate workers would get more rights and freedom with likely changes taking place in the sponsorship rules. This would also benefit private companies, suggested Salem Al Yazidi in remarks to the daily.
“This will considerably help the private sector to play a widened role in the national economy and contribute actively to national development,” Khalid Al Nuaimi, owner of a contracting company, told the daily, lauding the move by the interior ministry to form a committee to study the sponsorship issue.
The Peninsula
