Muscat: The size of Oman’s expatriate workforce has officially crossed the key one million mark, underlining the burgeoning growth of foreign workers in the country’s private sector.
According to the local Arabic daily, Oman, the milestone was reached last month, with statistics putting the total number of expatriate workers in the sultanate at 1,065,158 as of end-March 2010.
The paper quoted Manpower Minister Shaikh Abdullah bin Nasser al Bakri as stating that the figure disproves the notion that expatriate employment is falling in the face of a concerted Omanisation drive launched by the government in recent months.
In an interview to the paper, Al Bakri reiterated the government’s commitment to helping private firms meet their legitimate requirements of foreign manpower, provided they also increase their uptake of local Omanis.
The revelation came as the Manpower Ministry announced a new drive to help private firms meet their Omanisation obligations. As part of the initiative, a network of new labour offices is being opened in the various provinces of the country.
At the same time, a total of 46 Sanad Centre – outlets that serve as an interface between private companies and the Manpower Ministry – will also be established around the country. These centres will enable private firms to conveniently renew the labour permits of their expatriate staff, as well as process applications for new labour clearances – which is a prerequisite for employing foreign labour.
