Manama: A Bahraini labour official has denied claims that the employment office it had set up in Qatar has been closed.
The office was established in 2007 in cooperation with the Qatari authorities to help Bahrainis willing to work in Qatar.
Office activities reportedly came to a standstill, except for transactions with a few people signing up for positions in neighbouring countries.
"The labour ministry has not cancelled the office, even though it is still assessing the merit of the Qatar employment project," Sabah Al Dossari, the labour assistant undersecretary for labour affairs, said in a statement.
"Our focus right now is on local strategic projects to help further reduce unemployment figures, mainly among university graduates, and to improve wages," he said.
Al Dossari said that the labour ministry has not received requests from Bahraini graduates to take up positions in Qatar.
"We are confident that the office work will be reinvigorated when the causeway linking Bahrain and Qatar is ready as it will greatly facilitate movement between the two countries and vastly reduce living costs for Bahrainis," Al Dossari said.
Around 2,500 Bahrainis currently work in Qatar, according to figures from the labour ministry.
"We are pleased that they are working without encountering any problem," the ministry said.
Al Dossari said that Bahrain was not negotiating deals with other Gulf Cooperation Council countries to open employment offices in their capitals.
