Geneva: Minister of Manpower of Egypt H E Hassan Shehata affirmed his great confidence in Qatar’s success in leading the 111th International Labour Conference after being elected as its president.
He also commended Qatar’s support for development in the region, which has a positive impact on the labour market in Arab societies. In an interview with QNA, the Minister said that his country supports and appreciates the role of Qatar in representing the Arab voice in the International Labour Organisation, through its presidency of the 111th session of the International Labour Conference.
He explained that Qatar’s presidency of the 111th session of the International Labour Conference reflected a culture built on collective work and consultative dialogue; noting that these aspects are not new to Qatar which possesses all capabilities that qualify it to consider Arab interests as well as addressing the challenges facing the region.
Shehata praised Qatar’s support for development in the region through its developmental initiatives and investment projects, which have had a positive impact on the labour market in Arab societies and have made significant contributions to reducing unemployment rates in Arab communities. He highlighted the importance of the reforms made in the Qatari labour market to ensure workers’ rights, stressing that Qatar’s election as president of the International Labour Conference is a clear evidence of the significance of these reforms and developments that have taken place in the Qatari market, with the testimony of the International Labour Organisation.
Shehata underlined that Qatar’s development and investment projects and initiatives in the region contribute greatly to initiating a development process in many needy countries in the Middle East. “These endeavours represent a genuine ethical role before being economic or investment-related, and Qatar deserves recognition and appreciation for its efforts,” he said.
On the Qatari-Egyptian relations, the Minister affirmed that the relations between the two countries have been growing in various fields, and this has been indicated by the recent visits between the leaders of the two countries and their respective cabinets.
He noted that the recently announced Qatari investments amount to billions of dollars, which has a positive impact on the Egyptian labour market, especially the investments that create job opportunities and projects that drive development on grounds.
Shehata added that cooperation between the two countries continues, and the Egyptian Ministry of Manpower is open to collaboration with its Qatari counterpart. There are ongoing discussions to attract more Egyptian labour to the Qatari markets, indicating the close relationship between the two sisterly nations. Additionally, there are continuous agreements and partnerships in various forms of cooperation. He looked forward to promoting the joint cooperation in more areas, specially since the labour file is interconnected with all other areas.
He stressed the importance of joint Arab action which has become of a great necessity to enhance means of cooperation in many areas, including training and qualification, vocational training, exchange of experiences, technical cooperation, and pumping more intra-investments.
