Keynote Address

Her Excellency Aisha Abdel Hady, Minister of Manpower and Migration

“A revision of work ethics, quality training and full coordination between the ministries are must-elements for the Egyptian labor force to thrive”

Today's conference raises many issues all of which need to be fully considered, and requires more attention be given to the issue of human resources. I would like to thank Dr. Samir Radwan, a veteran in the International Labor Organization (ILO), who helped us understand the importance of bringing together the three concerned parties i.e. the workers, governments and employers in order to define the rights and duties of each. Mr. Omar Mohanna, AmCham President recapitulates a number of issues, which have been the subject of consideration and debate for a long period. There are multiple bodies and agencies responsible for the development of human resources. This multiplicity amplifies the problems, makes attempts to find solutions inefficient and has given rise to the discussion of how education outputs are inconsistent with the requirements of the labor market and the disparity between education and vocation training and technical education.

Before I came to the conference, the Cabinet adopted a resolution to establish a ministerial group which is mandated to finalize within six months specific training programs that take into consideration all the requirements of the labor market. The group combines Ministers of Manpower and Migration, Education, Military Production and Local Development as well as those concerned with the issue of human development.

I believe that the problem is not restricted to Egypt as the entire Arab world faces the same problem. Discussions at meetings of the Arab Labor Organization (ALO) and the ILO focus on the question of inconsistency between educational outputs and the requirements of the labor market. The issue may be global to the exception of some countries with long experience in preparing educational programs that meet the requirements of the labor market.

Egypt has already started to give attention to this issue. As Mr. Mohanna noted, the issues of discipline and work ethics and behaviors are crucial. As a Minister of Manpower and Migration, I apply a law that protects the Egyptian labor force. However, I cannot obstruct investment in Egypt due to the absence of certain expertise which foreign investment acquires. Sometimes, some jobs are recruited from abroad which have equivalents in Egypt. This is of course against the law. Applying the international standards and criteria observed by those investors who come with high technologies that require advanced skills, we find out that these jobs have no equivalents. I attempt to strike a balance between the structure of the available labor and the actual requirements of investors with a view to increase productivity.

Is the Indian or Bangladeshi worker, with due respect to all people from different nationalities, smarter than the Egyptian laborer on whose shoulders the Egyptian industry has relied for long periods? Is there a change that has undergone values, behaviors, traditions, right to work and the concept of work from one generation to another? Does this change make the current generation heedless to the issues of work commitment and discipline unlike our generation? Is globalization the culprit? Under globalization, we witness the era of the open skies with many things that preoccupy youth and make them in a state of psychological flaccidity and indefinite anticipation incommensurate with their capabilities. Is drama accused? All these factors make the issue of work commitment and discipline a field of study for the sociologists. Therefore, I call upon sociologists to investigate the issue and understand the impacts different factors have upon work respect and sanctity.

On the other side, there are positive examples. When Mr. Omar Mohanna took control of Suez Cement, he raised the level of labor productivity and so did Mr. Sherif El Gebaly when he took the responsibility for the Organic Fertilizers Company. There is a missing part in terms of work conditions and environment, which constitutes another issue which requires investigation. Are the work conditions and environment favorable or in need of revision? Social and cultural perspectives should be observed in investigating the recent problems of our societies like work commitment and discipline at a time when values, norms and traditions have collapsed. The scope of investigation should extend to embrace the Egyptian drama which no longer reflects our thought or culture but rather promotes other values totally different from those to which we are accustomed.

The point is that our scope of study should not be confined to the educational outputs and their consistency with the requirements of the labor market independently from the social and psychological factors that affect the labor market. The Egyptian worker is creative abroad even in matters remote from his/her academic qualification. However, he/she refuses to do the same thing in his/her country. Investigation of reasons behind refusal reveals that they are related to social issues. This is a second call for sociologists not only to study the case but also to propose recommendations and develop strategies and programs that encourage work and the appreciation of its value.

Now, I turn to discuss the role of the Ministry of Manpower and Migration. Labor Law provides for a Supreme Council for Human Development. Committee of labor force affiliated to the People's Assembly drafted a report on human development, which called for a Supreme Council. Now, the Council is established and we have already started its activation. But how will it work?

The Council combines all the bodies and entities concerned with the development of human resources including the competent ministries, Workers' Federation, the General Federation for Egyptian Industries and the Federation of Commercial Chambers. In the first meeting of the Council, I called for a single action plan to be presented to the government. All the concerned bodies should agree upon this plan which demonstrates our vision of the human development issue. This approach will put an end to the old process where different ministries used to present different plans which may be conflicting. There should be a single overall framework under which we agree to the objectives, programs and a well-defined strategy. Then, each body can implement certain part of the strategy with full coordination which prevents conflict and duplicity of efforts made. Actually, the Ministry started and addressed 29 bodies of which only 19 (about 70%) responded.

We developed the overall framework of the strategy which will be submitted to the Council. The Ministry gives priority to this issue which constitutes the first step towards a science-based systemic methodology which places the issues of training, education, development of human resources and training centers in one melting pot, before a single body under a unified framework without the control of one entity over another but with full coordination between different entities. Consequently, we actually activated the role of the Supreme Council for Human Development. I can safely say that it is the first step on the right path.

The other aspect the Ministry is interested in is to identify the current training centers. In this context, the Ministry conducted a survey of these training centers and another one of their capabilities. The findings of these surveys showed that some training centers are very advanced and reliable while some others need to be rehabilitated and other centers are useless for industrial programs and plans or developmental plans of Egypt. In the Council, we demand announcement of the programs of the qualified centers and reaching agreements to rehabilitate those centers that need rehabilitation. The third category of training centers should be done away with. In this way, we can depend on a specific number of training centers to provide training and qualification.

We can cooperate with some international institutions including the European Training Foundation (ETF) which developed a plan that covered two aspects: evaluation of qualifications on scientific basis against the international standards which helps draw a training map that qualifies for granting licenses to perform professions. This is a significant step. The Ministry has already started to implement this step and receives great assistance from the ETF. Furthermore, in cooperation with both the ILO and the EU, the Ministry developed what is known as the national skill levels. The Ministry started with three sectors: industry, building and construction and tourism and hotels in which it gives attention to certain features, which other training centers lack, that is, career progress and industrial apprenticeship. The Ministry is interested in developing programs of industrial apprenticeship for juvenile dropouts in such a manner as to qualify them to work at workshops and factories and grow able to earn their livelihood in a decent way.

Noting the sharp decline of ordinary labor, the Ministry, in agreement with Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), allowed some factories under the law of career progress to recruit youth below 16 years under the designation of training which lasts till 18. Afterwards, these youth are full labor force which can engage in the work wheel. The Ministry spares no efforts to develop human power at different levels regardless of its make up and skills in order to enter the labor market in an attempt to solve the problem of unemployment which is closely related to the issue of human development. In this way, we are moving towards the direction that boost the value of human power in Egypt and minimize unemployment rate. The Ministry requires foreign investors to provide training for their labor and grants them one-year grace period. As a Minister of Manpower and Migration, I am fully responsible for the protection of both Egyptian and foreign labor working in Egypt. If the Egyptian worker attracts investment due to low wage, it is my duty to increase this wage after enhancing his skills and competitiveness. This issue is not without solution. Some countries adopted good approaches which we are now studying. What is important is how to develop framework for programs that allows for multiple training bodies in light of a clear strategy. This is the task which the Ministry is attempting to perform through the Supreme Council for Human Resources.

Thank you very much.