LexisNexis Middle East

UAE: Energy and Infrastructure Ministries Merged

12/07/202010/07/2020
by Benjamin Filaferro

The UAE’s Prime Minister has announced a Government restructuring, which will see the Energy and Infrastructure Ministries merged. The merged Ministry will be led by the country’s current Energy Minister. They have been given a year to achieve new targets. The head of Abu Dhabi’s national oil company ADNOC, Sultan al-Jaber, has been appointed Industry and Advanced Technology Minister and Abdullah al-Marri has been appointed Economy Minister.

A Minister of State for Digital Economy, Artificial Intelligence and Teleworking Applications position has been created and Omar Al-Ulama has been appointed to the position.

A new UAE Government Media Office will also be established while the National Media Council and the Federal Youth Authority will be merged into the Culture Ministry. The General Pension and Social Security Authority will be merged with the Community Development Ministry, the National Qualifications Authority will be merged with the Education Ministry and the Insurance Authority will be merged with the Securities and Commodities Authority.

In addition, half of Government service centres will be abolished and converted into digital platforms within two years. Finally, half of federal agencies will be merged with each other or in ministries. The moves follow an announcement of restructuring last month.

News developments

Qatar: Percentage of Qataris in Private Sector to be Increased

11/07/202010/07/2020
by Benjamin Filaferro

Qatar’s Cabinet has approved a draft Ministerial Decision to increase the minimum percentage of Qataris in the private sector to 60%. It will apply to Qataris working in State-owned companies or its subsidiaries or other entities who are subject to the Retirement and Pension Law. It will also increase the percentage of Qataris in human resources departments to 80% in those entities. Children of Qatari women will be treated as Qataris. It was proposed by the Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs Minister. It is aimed at implementing Qatar Law No. 14/2004 (the Labour Law).

News developments

Bahrain: Some Labour Market Regulatory Authority Fees Reduced

11/07/202010/07/2020
by Benjamin Filaferro

Bahrain’s Cabinet has approved a decision reducing some Labour Market Regulatory Authority fees. Fees for the issuing and renewing of all work permits issued for one year and all monthly fees related to them have been reduced by 50%. The reduced fees will remain in force for three months from July 2020. In addition, employers who engage in business activities most affected by Coronavirus are exempt from paying these fees for three months from 1 July. They will only be exempt if approved by the Deputy Prime Minister and chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Financial, Economic and Financial Balance Affairs.

News developments

Saudi Arabia: Enforcement Courts Will Start Allocating Judicial Liquidations to Infath

10/07/202010/07/2020
by Benjamin Filaferro

Saudi Arabia’s Enforcement Courts will start allocating judicial liquidations exclusively to the Entrustment and Liquidation Centre. It follows the signing of an agreement between the Justice Ministry and infath. It identifies the scope of activities to be covered and provides the necessary governance and accountability measures for fulfilling rights in a timely way. infath will be able to commission qualified and licensed private sector companies to participate competitively in the Liquidation Activities under the Centre’s supervision. Interested parties in in local and international licensed companies in chartered accounting, law and legal services, evaluation, engineering advisory, judicial custody, property management, treasury, marketing and sales companies can register at infath.sa. Infath will then evaluate and assign each case to suitable service providers based on their experience and the nature of the asset.

News developments

Kuwait: Draft Residency Law Amendments Approved

10/07/202010/07/2020
by Benjamin Filaferro

According to local newspaper reports, Kuwait’s Interior Minister has approved draft residency law amendments. The aim is to reduce the numbers of non-Kuwaitis employed in the country. The focus will be on skilled migrants rather than manual workers. There will also be limits on the number of foreign nationals recruited by companies each year and regulations based on their skills will be included. The legislation will be ready by October. It is part of efforts to reduce the numbers of expatriates in the country from 70 to 30%.

Uncategorized

Qatar: Amended Version of Draft Press Regulation Law Approved

03/07/2020
by Benjamin Filaferro

Qatar’s Shoura Council has approved an amended version of the draft press regulation law. It also includes provisions on media, publishing houses, circulating and distributing publications, cinemas and theatres, artistic productions, private broadcasting stations, advertising and public relations activities and media services offices. They discussed the report of the Joint Committee which consists of the Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee and the Information and Cultural Affairs Committee and recommended five articles be amended. They have referred it to the Government to consider further.

Uncategorized

Kuwait: Kuwait to Sack All Expatriate Government Employees

03/07/2020
by Benjamin Filaferro

According to local newspaper reports, Kuwait is preparing to end the services of all expatriate Government employees. This will apply to employees in various administrative, technical, legal, education and other roles and will be rolled out over the next two years. By the end of the programme, the numbers of expatriate Government employees will have returned to 2017 levels. Medical and nursing jobs are exempt from this.