DUBAI, 4 June 2007 — Anwar Gargash, minister of state for Federal National Council affairs, said yesterday that his country has made great progress in development and implementation of legislation to protect the labor force and in working at every level of government and the private sector to continue evolving a framework in this regard.
Gargash made his comments while discussing with a delegation of European Parliament members hosted by the Dubai executive office.
The delegation was led by Lilli Gruber, Gulf Delegation chairwoman and a member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, and Bernard Savage, EC ambassador to the UAE and head of the Delegation of the European Commission in Saudi Arabia.
The delegation was interested in learning more about how questions pertinent to the labor sector were being addressed in the UAE.
Gargash outlined the government’s proactive and aggressive strategy to address the challenges of a large expatriate labor force and development of labor sector strategy and infrastructure. He outlined a number of Cabinet directives and actions in key areas, such as wage protection, sponsorship transfers, labor dispute settlement, inspection visits, working conditions and workers’ accommodation.
“In 2006, 27,000 labor disputes were processed, 85 percent of which were successfully arbitrated by the courts. While the UAE acknowledges that there remains much to be done, these initiatives demonstrate that the government is fully engaged in providing a robust infrastructure for the labor sector that guarantees labor rights,” he continued.
Gargash also outlined to the delegation the UAE’s plan with regard to enabling the Federal National Council. He detailed the president’s initiative of December 2005 and provided an overview of the recent elections to the FNC.
“Although this is a first step, it is nonetheless an important step in modernizing our representative institutions and widening the avenues of political participation in this country,” he said.
Members of the European delegation commented on the UAE’s impressive accomplishments that they witnessed during their trip and noted that the country’s first national election was a positive move for a country that has already succeeded in building a robust economy and infrastructure.
The delegation also included Patrick Louis, French MEP, Eugen Mihaescu, Romanian MEP and member of the EU Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Jean-Louis Berton, head of the Secretariat of inter-parliamentary delegation to non-European countries.
