Iranian and Qatari ministers of labor on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Tehran under which Iranian workers will be sent to Qatar, IRNA reported.
The MoU also calls for the expansion of cooperation in the fields of technical and vocational training.
During the visit of Abdullah Saleh al-Khulaifi, the Qatari minister of labor, which took place at the invitation of Ali Rabiee, the Iranian minister of cooperatives, labor and social affairs, the two sides agreed to set up a joint committee chaired by the deputy labor ministers of both countries to follow up the implementation of the MoU’s provisions.
“Signing MoU’s is a positive signal for our country and heart-warming for both nations,” Rabiee said during his meeting with the Qatari official.
He described the majority of Iranian workforce as “educated and skilled” and said, “We hope that our efforts will help improve employment in the country but the Iranian workforce surplus is significant and can offer valuable services to Qatar.”
Iranian skilled and semi-skilled workforce is already active in various disciplines in Qatar’s “service, engineering, nursing, and medicine” markets. However, there is a need to “ease the process of their money transfer,” Rabiee said.
Al-Khulaifi called for Iran’s assistance to upgrade his country’s “labor standards,” saying, “We are currently amending the labor code for migrant workers in order to safeguard their rights. The amendments will allow for direct transfer of the workers’ income to their countries of origin.”
He also announced that Qatar is planning to set up residential districts for foreign workers to mitigate the impact of negative media campaigns regarding workers’ rights in the tiny Persian Gulf emirate.
