Muscat: The decision to raise the fees for issuing and renewing licences for the recruitment of expatriate workers was prepared before fixing the minimum wage and facilitating procedures for the departure of expatriates, a top Ministry of Labour official said.
Speaking to a private radio, he said that the decision will not affect the local economy or foreign investment and the cost of recruitment in Oman is still lower tha0n that of neighbouring countries.
He said that the problem is not the cost of bringing in an expatriate worker, but those related to delays in transactions and lack of clarity of procedures, which the
Ministry of Labour is trying to resolve with other government agencies.
“After all these years of development in education and qualification in all sectors, we have trained and qualified Omanis and there is no problem in employing them.”
On the possibility of companies changing work status to pay fewer fees, he said the private sector was given an opportunity for more than a month to change
the status.
He said the green card is the privilege given to companies committed to good Omanisation rates and the fees have been reduced for small and medium enterprises.
The decision does not include the family of an expatriate.
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