President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has stated that his administration is making progress in lowering the number of foreign workers hired and replacing them with locals.
President Solih remarked in a ceremony to open the R. Alifushi Job Center on Wednesday that the government intends to minimize the number of foreign employees brought to the country in the near future.
While emphasizing that the administration has achieved success in lowering the number of foreign employees in the country, he added that when he took office, around 56,000 foreigners had acquired a work permit, but only 8,900 had received a work permit in the first six months of 2021.
The president went on to remark that the country is currently grappling with issues such as people being unable to find work and businesses unable to locate qualified candidates for open positions.
He noted that the administration is working to address the issue by expanding training programs for such professions geared toward locals.
Solih stated that, in addition to the Alifushi Job Center, TVET facilities will be established across the country to train more qualified people for the workforce.
He noted during the ceremony that the Job Center in Alifushi is the first in a statewide series that would connect Maldivians looking for work with companies that have open positions in their organizations.
