Inayat Ur Rahman, Business Editor

The UAE has unveiled a sweeping programme of reforms and financial incentives to drive new private sector opportunities for both young and experienced Emiratis, with an investment of Dhs24 billion ($6.53b) to create 75,000 new private sector jobs for Emiratis.

The UAE business community is upbeat about this great initiative, adding that it would further the country’s economic growth.

Hana Abu Kharmeh, Human Resources Director, Serco Middle East, commented: “As part of its Projects of the 50 announcement, the UAE government revealed its plan to invest big in Emiratis working or planning to join the private sector. With this great announcement, we can see that the number of nationals exploring and joining the private sector will increase drastically in the upcoming few months. The plan, which aims to strengthen the Emirati presence within private companies, will offer great opportunities for citizens which will enable them to gain international experience locally and work within different environments that will support them in gaining the skills and confidence required to excel, grow and finally be able to give back to their country and the economy.

It’s considered to be one of the most important performance indicators for the UAE’s vision in 2021, and at Serco we already see great focus from the Government on training and qualifying citizens in several fields in addition to issuing provisions and rules that regulate business and tasks and offering incentives to increase the number of highly skilled and qualified Emiratis in the workforce, especially in the private sector.

The use of expatriate expertise and workforces has supported the rapid growth of now-international hubs such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but the number of expats in the workforce vastly outnumbers Emiratis across the country. As such, nationalisation is a key activity that all businesses in the UAE need to dive into.

Here at Serco, nationalisation has always been a core part of our strategy. Real-life experience is invaluable, through processes such as Serco’s internship programme where we give students the chance to ‘try out’ working in different areas of our business over a six-week period, broadening their experience to the vast number of opportunities that are available in the private sector. Furthermore, Serco’s bespoke nationalisation and graduate programmes provide a framework for the continued training and development of nationals and offers a rotational programme, whereby graduates gain experience in functional, support and contract-based roles so they can find where they excel the most.

It is important to highlight that companies within the private sector should approach nationalisation in a way that not only meets the goals of their business, but truly invests in the nationals that they recruit. They also need to ensure that they develop the nationals they recruit and truly focus on building a future workforce and management team that consists of skilled, experienced and qualified nationals by providing the right training and support system.”

Lalu Samuel, Chairman of Kingston Holdings Group and Chairman of the Representative Committee of the Industry Sector at the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), lauded the launch of the second package of “Projects of the 50”, saying it will support the national economy and take it to new heights of growth and prosperity.

These projects included the allocation of Dhs24 billion to create 75,000 private sector jobs for Emiratis with incentives for them to join the private sector and gain the backing they need to thrive and prosper.

In addition to attracting Emirati competences to the private sector and stimulating them to work for the private sector, this huge project will strengthen the national economy by Emirati cadres who will lead the next phase of the country’s development, Samuel said.

It will also contribute to instilling the culture of work through training programmes supported by the government, thus graduating generations with a spirit of creativity, responsibility and ambition, Samuel added.

He emphasised that Kingston Holdings Group will be keen to attract national cadres in compliance with the directives of the UAE’s wise leadership and will spare no effort to preserve and equip national skills with qualitative expertise.

“We will also increase the Emiratisation percentage of the total number of our employees in our plans so that the group will be a contributor and supporter in carrying this national responsibility in the coming years,” he stated.