Qatar to cut expat workforce by 40%

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The government also wants to limit population growth in its capital Doha. (Getty Images)

Qatar plans to cut its expatriate working population from its current 88% to 50% by 2025 under new proposals by the Gulf state’s development planning office.

The gradual cutback is expected to see the number of expat workers in Qatar first reduced to 70% by 2010, Qatar daily The Peninsula reported today.

The plan - put forward by the population committee of the General Secretariat for Development Planning - aims to gradually reduce Qatar’s dependence on expatriate workers and to mobilise local Qataris to join the workforce.

According to a report last month, only 12% of the country's workforce is made up of nationals.

The new proposals also call for plans to limit the growing population in Doha, estimating the capital will see its population soar to around one million by 2025. Doha’s population was just 339,847 in 2004.

The move comes as a study on urban development and internal migration last month claimed expatriate labourers are proving to be more of a financial burden to Qatar than providing any benefits for it.

The study from Qatar’s Population Research Permanent Committee claimed the government pays 3,500 Qatari riyals ($961) per month for each person coming into the country in the low-income category, the newspaper reported.

In 1997, 235,000 foreign workers accounted for 84% of the workforce. In 2004, there were 391,000 expat workers, while the population stood at 744,029, according to the study.

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USER COMMENTS (2 COMMENTS)

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A follow up has found the report false
Posted by jay verg, Doha, Qatar on 11 September 2007 at 18:00 UAE time


Gulf Times of Qatar has carried a follow up on this story. An official of the General Secretariat for Development Planning has rubbished the report saying that The Peninsula had carried the report without verification. It is the findings of an old report and not the latest. Please remove this story immediately.

The Thrusth
Posted by Mohammad Imanulla Khan, Doha, Qatar on 10 September 2007 at 16:00 UAE time

Does the government has any solid proof on what basis they have come up with the figures that are quoted. "The study from Qatar’s Population Research Permanent Committee claimed the government pays 3,500 Qatari riyals ($961) per month for each person coming into the country in the low-income category, the newspaper reported."Not only that but I personally believe that the normal and low income employee pays double that amount on expenses such as medical card, ID cards and the Residence Permits.The other reason that most nationals are not employed in key positions might be that a majority of them are not qualified and educated to do so.

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