Gulf labor marke-The Acting Director General of the Public Authority for Manpower, Marzouq Al-Otaibi, emphasized the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) shared commitment to strengthening the labor system and addressing common challenges. His remarks came during the 11th meeting of the Committee of Undersecretaries of the GCC Ministries of Labor, hosted by Kuwait.
Al-Otaibi noted that the meeting covers several key issues, including strategic priorities for Gulf labor markets, nationalization initiatives, private sector workforce development, social protection enhancements, and the rights of working women.
In a similar statement, Khaled Al-Sunaidi, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic and Development Affairs at the GCC, highlighted the importance of the labor sector as a core pillar of sustainable development in the region.
He explained that the meeting aims to strengthen coordination and integration across labor and development fields, unify efforts to improve the work environment, and advance joint policies that support GCC interests and enhance competitiveness regionally and globally.
Al-Sunaidi further pointed out that the Gulf labor market recorded 24.6 million workers in the second quarter of 2024, including 19 million expatriates, stressing the need to strike a better balance between localization and leveraging skilled foreign talent.
