Minister of Economic Development Fayyaz Ismail has said efforts are underway to identify sectors and opportunities sought by job seekers.
Speaking to PSM News, Economic Minister Fayyaz said the project run in collaboration with the World Bank is aimed at identifying sectors and jobs sought by Maldivians in addition to identifying whether expatriates are currently employed in areas sought by locals. He said the ministry intends to make policies to provide opportunities to locals, if expatriates currently fill such positions.
The economic minister said locals need training to fill some positions in certain sectors and funds from World Bank will allow for such training programmes. He also said some sectors and jobs are disliked by locals, which requires recruitment of foreigners.
The project run in collaboration with Ministry of Education and the World Bank is worth USD 1.29 million.
Ministry of Economic Development has also launched a job portal to ease job seeking for locals in an attempt to provide better opportunities for locals. As part of strengthening its policies and allow more opportunities for locals, the ministry said expatriates are required to register at the portal before work permit is issued for them.
Over 160,000 people employed in Maldives are foreigners from the total working population of over 300,000 people. Meanwhile 90,000 people are unemployed by choice, and there are 10,000-15,000 job seekers, according to official statistics.