MANILA: The Middle East could be the “shock absorber” for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) whose prospective destinations become limited as the effects of the world financial crisis spread further, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said.
Roque is in the Middle East, particularly Qatar and Bahrain, to discuss with his counterparts there ways to improve the working conditions of guest workers, including OFWs. He will then go to Singapore for a human resources summit this week.
In a telephonic interview from Qatar, the labor chief said the financial crisis is not being discussed in the Middle East.
“[The] Middle East may be our shock absorber. We can bring our workers who might be displaced [by the crisis] there. The region is booming,” he said. “(The crisis) has not reached their shores…They’re just laughing it off here,” he added. Asked about the decline in the stock market in Saudi Arabia, he said authorities there immediately shut down the stock market.
“It’s that simple here...The problem is credit, which is not a problem here,” he added. Roque said he was given a tour of sites where construction is “ongoing left and right.” “There’s no way for the doomsday scenario to come true here,” he said. Roque said the four so-called “mega cities” in Saudi Arabia continue being built and would need skilled engineers and construction workers.
He said that aside from the construction industry, the hotel service sector is a market for OFWs in the Middle East, noting four new hotels opening in Qatar.
