Bahrain's Cabinet has approved the National Labour Market Plan 2023-2026, amending some provisions with regard to regulation of the labour market, in bid to provide an attractive environment for investments and a conducive atmosphere for growth of businesses, reported BNA.

Jamil bin Mohammad Ali Humaidan, Minister of Labour and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Labor Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA), affirmed the keenness of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, in sustaining the labor market’s growth to generate more jobs in various sectors.

The current plan aims to create job opportunities for citizens and align educational outputs with the needs of the labour market, in addition to enhancing partnerships with the private sector, promoting local and foreign investments in Bahrain, and further consolidating regulation and laws that attract investments and organise workers in the labour market, said the report.

The minister highlighted HRH’s directives to set strategic plans to provide an attractive environment for investments and enhance Bahrain’s economic position within an environment conducive for the growth of businesses, it stated.

The Labour Minister made a statement following the Cabinet's approval of the National Labour Market Plan 2023-2026, within the framework of implementing the provisions of Decree-Law 21/2021 amending some provisions of Law 19/2006 with regard to the regulation of the labour market, by which the Labour Ministry is assigned to preparing the national plan every four years.

The minister said that the National Labour Market Plan has come after completing 91% of the initiatives of the previous plan of 2021-2023 that resulted in increasing employment rates of citizens in the private sector, stated the report.

The previous plan also supported the economic recovery plan and attracted investments, which led to higher employment rates and the launching of new training programmes, reported BNA.

Humaidan pointed out that the remaining initiatives will be completed within the current plan, which is based on four strategic goals that include 30 initiatives.

The minister said that the implementation of the plan will be in collaboration with other government agencies, including the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Council of Higher Education, LMRA, Labor Fund (Tamkeen), Social Insurance Organization (SIO), the Information and e-Government Authority (iGA), the Education and Training Quality Authority (BQA).

The minister affirmed that cooperation between public and private sectors is a prerequisite for the success of the plan and for ensuring sustainable growth of the labour market in the kingdom, in line with the Government Programme 2023-2026.

He stressed that the plan will contribute to enhancing cooperation between government agencies to update data, address challenges, and evaluate and monitor decisions to support the implementation of all initiatives in the National Labour Market Plan.

The 2023-2026 plan focuses on contributing to reducing the cost difference between Bahraini and foreign workers and creating more job opportunities for citizens in the private sector.

It also contributes to expanding partnerships between the government and the private sector by encouraging institutions and companies to apply all modes of employment in the labour market that contribute to enhancing economic participation, such as part-time employment, and remote work to contribute to the creation of employment opportunities, said the BNA report.

The Labour Ministry will also work to develop programmes to further integrate women into the labour market and create more recruitment options for them.

Through the current plan, the ministry and Tamkeen are seeking to develop the skills and capabilities of national workers by launching training and capacity building initiatives and programmes for job seekers that face difficulty in entering the labour market, it stated.

This is in addition to training opportunities that Tamkeen provides newly recruited Bahraini with for professional development and advanced technology training.

The plan will include a strategy of aligning educational outputs with the labour market needs and focusing on technical and vocational education to create balance between academic and vocational qualifications of national human resources, stated the report.

The concerned authorities will develop a plan for post-school education and create educational and training options that cover a variety of technical and practical courses.

The partnership with the private sector will be strengthened to enhance productivity and quality of offerings to ensure job stability for citizens in the labour market.

Tamkeen will launch a line up of programmes aimed at career development in economic sectors; supporting investments and the growth of start-ups small and medium enterprises (SMEs); providing financing and technical consultation and other services aimed at encouraging Bahraini entrepreneurship.

The Labour Ministry said the plan aims to strengthen its partnership with the private sector and enhance the investment environment, by stimulating productivity and work quality to ensure job stability for citizens in the job market within the priorities that the government is working to achieve by supporting promotion and development programs for Bahrainis in qualitative jobs.

Within the current labour market plan, enhancing supervision is consolidated through cooperation between various organisations to regulate the presence of the foreign working force and legislation pertaining to them, to ensure the stability of the labour market and achieve a balance between Bahraini and foreign workers, reported BNA.

This aims to increase the flow of employment opportunities for citizens in various economic and commercial sectors, in addition to developing procedures and legislation and taking all measures aimed at controlling illegal works; developing laws and regulations aimed at protecting workers; promoting occupational health and safety in the workplace; and improving the quality of life of the workforce, it added

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