Egypt’s Minister of Local Development, Mahmoud Shaarawy, and Minister of State for Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates’ Affairs, Nabila Markram, met on Thursday to follow up on the progress of establishing a database for all expats repatriated due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Egyptian government has prepared a labour recruitment application form, to collect personal information and professional skills of recently repatriated expats, in preparation for offering them jobs in the ongoing national development projects. The application form, named “Nawart Baladak” (Welcome Home!), was drafted by the Emigration Ministry in cooperation with the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development.
Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea, and governors of the Red Sea, Fayoum, Minya, Beni Suef, Sohag, Assiut, Luxor, New Valley, Aswan, and Qena also participated in the Thursday meeting.
During the meeting, it was agreed to launch a website for Egyptian returnees that includes their personal information, on top of which is their previous job and specialisation. The website would also provide available job opportunities in each governorate. In addition, a hotline will be launched in each governorate dedicated to receiving complaints, inquiries, or proposals for employment.
The attendants also agreed that the Ministry of Emigration would provide the Ministry of Local Development with the numbers of repatriated expats in each governorate. The Ministry of Local Development should, in turn, prepare an inventory of job and investment opportunities in the targeted governorates.
The participating ministers will form a committee that includes representatives of the concerned ministries, to follow up on the progress of the initiative.
Another meeting will be held by the concerned ministers and governors at the cabinet during the coming period to follow the latest developments in this important file.
Since April, Egypt has launched a large-scale repatriation operation to bring home its stranded citizens abroad due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
