The Al Mawalih market in Muscat is busy but Oman has pledged to create thousands of new jobs to ease the highest unemployment levels for four decades. Mohammad Mahjoub/AFP
The Al Mawalih market in Muscat is busy but Oman has pledged to create thousands of new jobs to ease the highest unemployment levels for four decades. Mohammad Mahjoub/AFP
The Al Mawalih market in Muscat is busy but Oman has pledged to create thousands of new jobs to ease the highest unemployment levels for four decades. Mohammad Mahjoub/AFP
The Al Mawalih market in Muscat is busy but Oman has pledged to create thousands of new jobs to ease the highest unemployment levels for four decades. Mohammad Mahjoub/AFP

25,000 jobs to be created for Omanis from the end of the year


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Oman has pledged to create 25,000 jobs from December this year in an effort to reduce unemployment  as the country plunges in its worst job crisis in 40 years.

“Oman’s Council of Ministers has decided to provide jobs for 25,000 Omanis in both the public and private sectors starting from December this year,” Oman News Agency (ONA) said on Tuesday.

But ONA did not say how much the government would spend on job creation nor did it give a time frame. But an official from the ministry of finance said the government has allocated a budget of 11 billion rials (Dh105 billion) in the next five years to help generate thousands of jobs every year.

“The 25,000 jobs will be created in phases starting this December lasting until the middle of 2018. This is the initial stage. But there is a bigger picture behind it. We plan to create 40,000 to 50,000 jobs every year for the next five years with the total allocated budget of 11 billion rials,” the official told the National.

He said about 60 per cent of the new jobs would be in the public sector, mainly in state-owned companies. The private sector would also be given incentives to employ Omanis by nationalizing existing positions currently filled by expatriates. The official gave no details of what those incentives might be but he said some of the fund would be allocated for small to medium enterprise (SME) projects to encourage Omanis to be self-employed.

“SMEs not only remove young people from the job queue but create employment as well,” he added.

Nearly 60,000 Omanis are looking for jobs, according to the Ministry of Manpower and most are graduates.

Oman is expanding two of its airports, in Muscat and Salalah. It is also building two more in Ras Al Hadd and Duqm. The fifth airport in Sohar has been fully operational from the beginning of this year but it is not yet fully utilised. The government is also modernising the mining industry in Sohar for foreign investors as well promoting steel and aluminium plants.

The government has lavished massive promotion on Duqm in central Oman resulting in a $7 billion agreement with Kuwait Petroleum International to build a refinery there. Chinese investors have also signed a deal with the government to build a new $10.7 billion Duqm city.

“All these projects will need to employ thousands of people in the next five years. It is part of the effort to diversify the economy away from oil income. The projects would also be a good source of corporate tax to settle the deficits,” Fareed Al Kalbani, an independent economy expert told the National.

In the first seven months of this year, Oman’s deficit was recorded at 2.6 billion rials (Dh24.8 billion). The government said early this year it would wipe the deficit using its reserves at the end of this fiscal year.  Oman also raised corporate tax from 12 to 15 percent in January this year.

In the private sector, expatriates vastly outnumber Omanis in the workplace. Manpower ministry figures up to the end of July showed only  236,729 Omanis are working in the private sector  compared to 1.87 million expatriates.

“This is where the government can create those thousands of jobs, by replacing expatriates in some positions," Mr Kalbani said. "The government can offer incentives like free training, low interest loans and free commercial lands to the private sector in return for employing Omanis.”

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

Basquiat in Abu Dhabi

One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. 

The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier. 

It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.  

“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. 

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
QUALIFYING RESULTS

1. Max Verstappen, Netherlands, Red Bull Racing Honda, 1 minute, 35.246 seconds.
2. Valtteri Bottas, Finland, Mercedes, 1:35.271.
3. Lewis Hamilton, Great Britain, Mercedes, 1:35.332.
4. Lando Norris, Great Britain, McLaren Renault, 1:35.497.
5. Alexander Albon, Thailand, Red Bull Racing Honda, 1:35.571.
6. Carlos Sainz Jr, Spain, McLaren Renault, 1:35.815.
7. Daniil Kvyat, Russia, Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda, 1:35.963.
8. Lance Stroll, Canada, Racing Point BWT Mercedes, 1:36.046.
9. Charles Leclerc, Monaco, Ferrari, 1:36.065.
10. Pierre Gasly, France, Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda, 1:36.242.

Eliminated after second session

11. Esteban Ocon, France, Renault, 1:36.359.
12. Daniel Ricciardo, Australia, Renault, 1:36.406.
13. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Ferrari, 1:36.631.
14. Antonio Giovinazzi, Italy, Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari, 1:38.248.

Eliminated after first session

15. Antonio Giovinazzi, Italy, Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari, 1:37.075.
16. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari, 1:37.555.
17. Kevin Magnussen, Denmark, Haas Ferrari, 1:37.863.
18. George Russell, Great Britain, Williams Mercedes, 1:38.045.
19. Pietro Fittipaldi, Brazil, Haas Ferrari, 1:38.173.
20. Nicholas Latifi, Canada, Williams Mercedes, 1:38.443.

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League quarter-final second leg:

Juventus 1 Ajax 2

Ajax advance 3-2 on aggregate

The rules on fostering in the UAE

A foster couple or family must:

  • be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
  • not be younger than 25 years old
  • not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
  • be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
  • have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
  • undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
  • A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially