The government of the Philippines has reportedly re-imposed a total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Iraq.

According to the Philippine Star, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief Hans Cacdac said the agency’s governing board has approved a resolution halting the deployment to Iraq.

“Until the security conditions have normalized, a total ban is imposed and thus processing and deployment to Iraq is hereby suspended”.

With the re-imposition of total ban, he said, the POEA would stop processing and deployment of Filipino workers, including those already employed in US military facilities in Iraq.

Late last year, the POEA allowed OFWs working in US military facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan to finish their employment contracts and take a vacation back home and return to their jobs.

Cacdac said the POEA governing board re-imposed a total ban following the decision of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to raise the alert level in Iraq to 3 due to escalating hostilities there.

Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz said the POEA automatically imposes a total deployment to countries placed under alert level 3.

The ban does not cover the Iraqi Kurdistan region.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said there are about 2,000 Filipinos currently employed in Iraq, and they are being encouraged to avail of the government’s voluntary repatriation.

(Source: Philippine Star)

By T. Keyzom Ngodup, co-founder at Ideas sYnergy.  Ideas sYnergy is Iraq’s first multiple bottom line advisory company committed to inclusive economic and social development through market-based solutions that help build and scale youth-driven innovative ideas for social change.

An Economist report rightly pointed out that when people in the developed countries worry about migration, they tend to think of low paid incomers who compete for jobs as construction workers, dishwashers, or farmhands. When people in developing countries worry about migration, they are usually concerned at the prospect of their best and brightest decamping to Silicon Valley or to hospitals and universities in the developed world. Indeed, of the 22 Iraqis listed in Arabian Business’ 500 most influential Arabs, only nine are based in Iraq, all in Baghdad.

This ‘brain drain’ has long bothered policymakers in poor countries. They fear it hurts their economies, depriving them of much-needed skilled workers who could have taught at their universities, worked in their hospitals and come up with clever new products for their factories to make. Alternatively, several economists reckon that the brain-drain hypothesis fails to account for the effects of remittances (see table for the relatively ‘low’ Iraq remittance volume albiet important to note that ‘traditional’ money transfer services are far and few between in Iraq and can often terminate service, for example the recent termination of Iraq-US transfer), for the beneficial effects of returning migrants, and for the possibility that being able to migrate to greener pastures induces people to get more education. Some argue that once these factors are taken into account, an exodus of highly skilled people could turn out to be a net benefit to the countries they leave.

While most migrants in other countries are unemployed youth, in Iraq, migrants had been generally gainfully employed professionals in the country before seeking global opportunities with a chance to travel hassle-free through a non-Iraqi passport. Speaking to a number of Iraqi professionals who immigrated to the United States after 2003, one finds that most of them are employed in low-paid blue collar jobs, with plans to return to Iraq in the near future, contingent on improvements in security.

Late senator Ted Kennedy said at the time, “America has a fundamental obligation to assist Iraqis whose lives are in danger.” But the special visa programme, called the SIV, under the 2008 Refugee Crisis Act, has stalled, partly due to crippling bureaucratic process, lack of resources and partly due to news such as Iraqi men in Kentucky, USA charged with supporting extremists. Following the withdrawal of American troops in December 2011, the SIV programme is likely to erect new hurdles as the Pentagon closed its last few military bases in Iraq.

However our experience tell us that Iraqis are better off pursuing higher studies abroad and applying themselves in Iraq, where potential opportunities to start new businesses and non-existent services for the population is tremendous. Much will depend upon how the government of Iraq makes Iraq an attractive destination for aspiring Iraqi returnees.

By T. Keyzom Ngodup, co-founder at Ideas sYnergy.  Ideas sYnergy is Iraq’s first multiple bottom line advisory company committed to inclusive economic and social development through market-based solutions that help build and scale youth-driven innovative ideas for social change.

International learning and skills specialist Atlas has expanded the global footprint of facilities capable of delivering the groundbreaking new global training initiative IMIST for the oil and gas industry with the approval of the first centre in Iraq.

The accreditation of the Al Delma facility in Basra City demonstrates Iraq’s commitment to developing its energy industry and creating a workforce trained to the globally recognised basic safety standard, IMIST online.

It brings the total number of invigilation centre’s approved to deliver International Minimum Industry Safety Training (IMIST) around the world to 16, with facilities spanning Australia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines as well as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Nigeria and Russia among others.

The Al Delma centre will be capable of delivering the programme to up to 250 people every day.

Bilal Mahmood, CEO of Al Delma said:

“Long-term underinvestment in the development of our oil and gas personnel has meant considerable training is needed if we are to accomplish the goal of a safe and skilled workforce for the future.

“As one of the biggest training centres in Iraq we have built our reputation on being quick, smart and reliable and we are delighted to be the first to gain approval to deliver this new international training and be a model to others in the country.”

Developed by global oil and gas training standards body OPITO International, IMIST brings for the first time a standardised level of basic safety training to an estimated 1.5million oil and gas workers worldwide. The training assesses basic safety knowledge in nine subject areas including risk assessment, asset integrity, the use of hazardous substances, working at height and mechanical lifting among other subjects.

IMIST online, which was launched in the Middle East in July 2011, is delivered in partnership with Atlas via approved invigilation centres only.

By gaining Atlas approval to deliver the course, workers using the Al Delma centre will have their IMIST training accepted by employers all over the world. It will also reduce the burden of training costs for companies with both new entrants and experienced workers able to undergo a full range of mandatory and voluntary health and safety courses under one roof.

Atlas chief executive John Rowley said:

“This is a significant step forward for the oil and gas workforce in Iraq in terms of creating a safe, sustainable and profitable oil and gas industry for the country.

“It is also a major milestone in the adoption of a common industry standard for basic safety and competency in oil and gas around the world. The support which has been shown for this initiative is evident in the rapidly increasing footprint of centres which now spans across all four corners of the globe and is testament to the industry’s desire to improve safety at all levels.”

IMIST is being rolled out across 30 countries worldwide throughout Asia, Africa and the North America over the next two years. It will be delivered via e-learning and tailored to meet each region’s specific workforce, language and geographic needs.

Unemployment in Iraq has reached one million, according to a report from AKnews.

Dara Hasan, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, told the agency:

“We are working on a plan to bring the level of unemployment down. There are 13 new laws ready to be issued which will protect and stabilized employees’ rights in both private and public sector.“

He added: “Due to a high level of unemployment in Iraq the government will recruit more than 150,000 people. But we do not relay solely on government job creation but also the private sector.”

Hassan believes small and medium sized loans for individuals and companies will somehow boost employment in the private sector however he provided AKnews with no data to substantiate this or any details on the size of the loans.

The report seems to contradict previous reports that the official unemployment rate was running at around 15%. The CIA’s 2009 figures show a labour force of 8.5 million; 15% of this would be about 1.3 million.

(Source: AKnews)

Iraq is planning to reduce civil service employment by one third, according to a report from AKnews.

Head of the Financial Committee at the House of Representatives, Haidar Edadi told the agency that 125,000 jobs will be reduced to 85,000 “due to budget deficiency for the investment projects.”

(Source: AKnews)

This morning saw the launch of a major new guide to business in Iraq: Entitled “The New Iraq: 2012 Discovering Business“, it was launched simultaneously in Dubai and at the “Iraq: Untapped Opportunities” conference in London.

Published by Allurentis, in association with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the guide containes a wealth of  case studies, commentary and data; it’s 140 pages of essential reading for everyone involved with the redevelopment of Iraq.

And as Dr. Sami Al-Araji, Chairman of the National Investment Commission, says in the introduction, “the sky really is the limit for investors”!

Iraq Business News is delighted to make this guide available to readers in pdf format. Please click here to download the full document (6.8MB).

The Iraqi government is to provide financial incentives for foreign companies to hire Iraqi workers, according to AKnews.

The parliamentary committee for labor and services decided to reduce taxes and other ‘not specified obligations’ towards the Iraqi government, as well as to provide facilities to these companies.

“The foreign companies can rely on their skilled workers in the technical and engineering affairs, but it is unacceptable for foreign [conpanies] to bring in foreign workers that do not require skill and can be accomplished by Iraqi workers,” Yunadim Kanna, chairman of the committee, said.

It remained unclear if that decision is backed by the majority of the parliament or by the Iraqi government, and therefore it is not clear if it will ever become law.

The unemployment rate in Iraq is 16 percent, meaning four million Iraqis are out out of work, according to the Ministry of Labour.

These figures do not reveal the extent of the problem as they do not record underemployment – where people cannot find enough work to support themselves.

According to this report, Iraq decided in May to deport foreign workers, especially Asians, but the decision has not yet been put into effect.

(Source: AKnews)

The U.S. State Department plans to deploy 16,000 civilian employees in Iraq, the Washington Post reports.

And while the U.S. military is supposed to be out of Iraq by the end of the year, the two governments are trying to negotiate an agreement for a small training force to remain.

But those forces will be dwarfed by an estimated the civilian contingent under the American ambassador — the size of an Army division — all of whom will have to be housed, fed and guarded; requirements include three police training centers, a small airline and hospitals.

For the State Department, Iraq will be its largest overseas effort since the years immediately after World War II, when it was in charge of the Marshall Plan, providing economic assistance in Europe.

In testimony before Congress this week, Deputy Secretary of State Tom Nides said the department has budgeted $6 billion for Iraq next year, considerably down on the $50 billion the military is currently spending.

Nides said the department is working hard to be ready in time, although some jobs, like housing construction, may stretch into next year.

“We’ve spent too much money and lost too many kids’ lives, not to do this thing right,” he said.

(Sources: Washington Post, UPI)