Expatriates numbers will grow in UAE as overall population shrinks

By Ribal Dayekh in Dubai
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-04-17

Chris Jackson/Getty Images] South African ex-pats at rugby match in UAE.

A report published by Euromonitor International on April 13th says that the percentage of UAE nationals with respect to the overall population of the UAE will fall during the next 20 years. Expatriates will constitute 84.5% of the population in 2030, compared to 79.7% in 2010.

The report indicated that the rate of population growth will maintain an average annual decline of 1.7% between 2010 and 2019, and 1.3% between 2020 and 2030.

According to the report, the number of the UAE population will reach 6.6 million in 2030, while the average age will be 35.4, which is an increase of 4 years over the average age in 2010. Life expectancy will rise to 82.1 years, compared to 79.7 in 2010.

Broadband access project in Lebanon

Lebanon's Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahas announced in late March that new fibre-optic links will be launched in the next few weeks that increase Internet access speeds for all subscribers in the country by 10%-20%. The project will cost 140 billion Lebanese pounds.

Nahas said that according to studies carried out by the World Bank on Lebanon, every 10% increase in broadband Internet access would result in an increase of 1.35% in annual growth, which is about 600 billion pounds. It would also result in an increase in tax revenues by 140 billion pounds annually, which means that the cost of the whole project can be covered with just one year's revenues.

He also said that the Ministry of Telecommunications has applied for a treasury loan of US $65 million in order to launch the first phase of the project.

Kuwait's minimum wage raised

Kuwait's government stipulated a minimum monthly wage of 60 dinars ($208.90 US) on April 14th, a step that will primarily affect the expatriate workforce.

Most Kuwaiti nationals work in the public sector where they enjoy generous fringe benefits, whereas foreign workers are concentrated in the private sector.

Mohammed Al-Afasi, Minister of Social Affairs and Labour, issued a decree which specified a minimum wage for the private sector, which is an unprecedented move, in order to comply with the labour law approved by the parliament.

It is not yet known whether the decree will include increased payment to the estimated 500,000 Asian female domestic workers. Human rights organisations have criticized the new labour law because it did not discuss the conditions of these domestic workers in the parliament.

High-tension power lines needed in Qatar

In Doha, the Qatari Minister of Energy and Industry, Abdullah Al-Atiyyah, indicated that any expansion in the production of electricity will require setting up a grid of overhead transmission lines, because the production of electricity in Qatar comes from various stations across the country.

Al-Atiyyah stressed that the new expansion of high-tension power lines aims to double the capacity of electricity production in Qatar, and to provide a maximum electricity production capacity in order to cope with the developments in the industrial and investment fields in the country.

Qatar has signed the contracts for the ninth stage of the expansion of the power transmission grid, which is worth 4.3 billion riyals (US $1.2 billion). This expansion will enhance and develop the capacities of the main power transmission lines as well as the current distribution lines in order to meet the growing needs for electric power.

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