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Brunei going all out to bring down unemployment rate
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Sept 14 (Borneo Bulletin/ANN): Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah said that the country is attempting to bring down the unemployment rate to four per cent, or even lower.
In an interview with the Bulletin at the opening of the Julangan Titah Graduan Bersepadu yesterday, the minister said, “Previously, the unemployment rate was 9.3 per cent, then it went down to 8.7 per cent and currently stands at 6.8 per cent.
“Every year, we have about 6,500 graduates coming into the labour market. So if you are hiring people, it is a constant moving target. Even with many being hired this year, there are still new people coming into the labour market,” he said.
On the establishment of Graduan Bersepadu, he said, “Junjung Kasih to His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, since it is actually an initiative by His Majesty with the objective of providing job opportunities and experience to local graduates.”
“This should definitely help with the unemployment rate, but of course, the question is: to what extent are we going to do this?
“Hopefully this concept can be replicated elsewhere and if that can be managed, then it would really bring down our unemployment rate.
“Unemployment is handled by the Manpower Planning and Employment Council, which is constantly looking into the issue. During the COVID-19 outbreak, JobCentre Brunei called up many businesses and encouraged them to take local people.
“From the start of this year up to the present, about 4,500 new jobs were created and so far only 50 per cent of that number has been hired.
“The remainder are in the process of being interviewed. We are actually speeding up our process in terms of interviews and so on. Once the employers find someone whom they like, they can employ them immediately.
“In the past, the hiring process was longer, but now we can get someone hired within two to three weeks.
“We also created i-Ready Apprenticeship Programme for TVET and HND graduates, and a number of people are taking the opportunity to hire them. This is support from our side, as many businesses couldn’t bring in foreign workers or had to curtail their activities when a lot of foreign workers went home.
“When the country began the process of de-escalation and businesses began to pick up, they needed people, but it’s not easy to bring foreigners in. Currently, training is being provided for locals, to enable them to start working when companies are hiring.
“What is important is for them to start working. Once they do so, they gain experience and they will be able to make choices later, when other opportunities arise.
“As for the government sector, we are constantly trying to get new jobs in that area as well.
“When we try to bring in foreign direct investors, they will set up plants, factories and so onm which in turn creates more jobs,” the minister said. – Borneo Bulletin/Asian News Network