Tour companies in the UAE state that the current visa ban will affect only Gulf expats during Umrah while the tourism authorities in Saudi Arabia refuse to comment on it.

This conclusion was confirmed by Al-Ansar Hajj and Umrah Tourism out of Abu Dhabi, who noted that the ban remains in effect until February of next year.

An operator in the visa sector at Al-Ansar stated only Emiratis or natives of Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait or Oman would be able to receive a tourism visa to enter Saudi Arabia.  Mohammed Faud also noted that if you are officially invited by the Kingdom you may be able to, but that would require an approval process.

Besides this group, no visas were issued after August 10, which falls near Sha’ban, month eight in the lunar calendar of Islam.  Faud said that this happens annually to staunch the flow of tourists arriving near Madinah.

Ashraf Handi, a representative of Abu Dhabi’s tour operator Al-Manar for Hajj and Umrah Service, confirmed the dates stating that the block on visas was a temporary regulation and would continue to be enforced until February of next year unless the company is told something different.

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There was a major rise is tourist arrivals throughout 2009 according to the Commission for Tourism and Antiques in Saudi Arabia, up from 6,000 applications in 2008 to last year’s total of 20,000.

Eisa Rawas, Saudi’s Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah Affairs, stated in local media reports that almost four million global pilgrims had received visas over a nine month period and were coming in from all over.

This increase in tourism has caused an incredible 200 percent rise in the price of certain hotel rooms throughout Ramadan.

Faud says that their company offers Umrah packages over Ramadan that cover a five day period.  If that trip is booked during the last five days of the festival (from September 4 to 9), the double accommodations for two at five-star Grand Zamzam would carry a price tag of Dh20,000.

Those that travel beyond Eid will pay Dh5,000 less for the room.

It is surprising that the cost of flights has stayed the same.  Nas Air is offering return flights within the five-day period above from Dh2,100 and Emirates is charging Dh2,380.

Disgruntled would-be travelers are not happy with the steady price of flights though.  Ahmed Owais of the UAE noted that an affordable airline ticket isn’t any good without a visa to enter the Kingdom.  Owais has lived in the UAE for three decades.

The most recent data shows that employment in Bahrain rose a modest one per cent growth at the close of Q2, pushing the total to 139,347.

This is the first increase that employment in Bahrain has seen since September.

Bahrain’s growth in employment hit a peak of 10 per cent in March 2009 before falling dramatically to only 4 per cent by the close of June 2009 and then hitting 2 per cent in September.

Although during the period between September and now the number of working Bahrains fell by 3 per cent, data by the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) indicates a positive outlook.

The total number of working Bahrains climbed to 139,347 which indicated an increase of 0.5 per cent.

At the same time the workforce of expatriates shrank by 2 per cent to bring that total to 457,694.

Last year the growth of the expatriate workforce hit 17 per cent at the close of March and 15 per cent at the close of June.

LMRA reported that in total, the count of Bahrain’s employed decreased from the 607,570 in 2009’s Q2 to 597,040 in Q2 for 2010, resulting in a shrinking rate of 1.7 per cent (or -1.7 per cent).

For expatriates, this resulted in a 2. 4 per cent fall.

On the other hand, the average monthly earnings across all industries climbed 5 per cent to BD318 as compared to the identical period in 2009.

Bahrain’s median monthly earnings climbed 2.1 per cent to BD438, with the public sector’s increasing by 1.7 per cent to DB579 and the private sector’s going up 4.9 per cent to BD320.

These figures meant that the labour cost difference between expatriates and Bahrain natives in targeted areas like trade, restaurants, construction and small scale management went up by BD16 to BD235.

Data reported that the irregular workers at the close of June totaled 41,168 – which included 16,181 who were absent, 18,464 who had been fired and 6,523 who had expired visa.

This number did not take into account foreigners who worked illegally with someone else, domestic workers who worked illegally, employees with dependant visas and people who came into the nation with visitor visas but went to work right away.

There were also less new work visas issued in Q2, compared to Q2 last year.

The LMRA reported that the total of 36,362 new work visas issued in Q2 last year had shrunk down to 30,960 issued in the second quarter of 2010.

These visas were including 24,299 for regular employees, 186 for investors, 524 for temp employees and 6,021 for dependents.  Construction accounted for 34 per cent of all the new regular workers.

At the same time there were 36,140 renewed visas, 18,660 terminated and 2,819 expatriates moved to a different job.

The interior minister in the Kingdom, who needs to deal with an unemployment rate that climbed to 10.5 per cent in 2009, called for the private businesses and government ministries to create or grant positions to Saudi Arabia nationals, according to SPA state new agency.

Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz noted that any country in the world would find it difficult and even impossible to employ strictly young people, but this member of the royal family who carries much influence in the nation admitted after meeting with governors from the region that positions in the government and private sectors should be given to citizens.

He suggested that agencies in the government should get together and locate work for Saudi nationals who are graduating or have a degree.  Nayef has also spoken with various chambers of commerce about encouraging the private sector to hire more graduating citizens as well.  Prince Nayef is also the second deputy prime minister.

His comments were made after a rare protest occurred in Riyadh over the weekend.  Around 200 nationals, all university graduates, publically demanded that the state offer them employment.

Even though Saudi Arabia is vastly wealthy and has enormous oil resources their citizens are struggling to get work because of the out of date education system.  The archaic system puts the focus on religious matters, instead of spending time on building skills necessary to help diversify the Kingdom into non-oil based industries and deflate the ballooning public sector.

Official figures put unemployment in Saudi Arabia at 10.5 per cent in 2009.  Providing employment for a population of over 18 million nationals is a tough challenge for the nation’s traditional leadership to face.

Officially the total population of the country sits at 27.1 million and the Saudi nationals are offered specific social benefits, but those are still less than what other oil producing nations in the area are offering.  Kuwait and Qatar for example, provide their nationals with many more benefits even though they have a smaller population of natives.

A large group of nationals have no choice but to find work as security guards, taxi drivers and other low paying positions simply to get by.

In a recent poll done by YouGovSiraj aimed at businesses and gauging active support of the policy of Emiratisation, Abdullah al Darmaki noted that the work of Emiratisation, a “main policy pillar,” should cut back on unemployment.  Al Darmaki, who is the general manager for the Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council, also noted that the area needs additional attention to work well.

He said that the challenge is in assisting companies to find UAE nationals who are qualified for their positions and it is equally important to help Emiratis reach that level of qualification.

The economic survey done annually by YouGovSiraj reported that 13 per cent of businesses surveyed claimed to support the Emiratisation program completely.  A further 67 per cent said that if nationals matched the qualifications and were willing to work under the same conditions and rate of pay as the expatriates currently available, they would support the program as well.  Those not in support of the program were counted at 13 per cent and a further seven per cent answered that they were unsure.

Over half of the businesses who took the poll currently have nationals on staff.  For those who do not employ Emiratis, reasons such as high expectations for salaries, improper qualifications and an unwilling attitude towards working extended hours were blamed.

There is detailed training available for potential Emirati employees.  This training is held at the Tawteen Council office close to the Department of Finance, where a thorough interview by employment counseling staff is conducted to connect the nationals with businesses in need of their skill set.

Al Darmaki explained that the first step in the program is for Tawteen to examine the available positions to ensure that the qualifications stated are truly required.  Once that is established, a specific program is put together for potential applicants.  On the other end, Tawteen works with prospective employees to help them acquire the proper qualifications through contact with educational groups.

He also quickly countered those claims stating that nationals have a reputation for securing jobs they do not actually have the qualifications for.  The practice of certain businesses to raise skill requirements to artificial levels in an effort to discourage the hiring of Emiratis was also mentioned by al Darmaki, although he admitted that practice is slowly changing.

Work experience has more weight than qualifications and the programs in place are working towards that more applicants reaching that goal.  A major portion of the national population is 25 to 35 years old.  Although this will change over the next decade, today’s Emiratis need to be getting the proper experience, according to al Darmaki.

Education is the other major policy goal in the government’s site, along with Emiratisation.  The lay out and landscape of the education system is what has created the current situation, al Darmaki said, and the government views improvements to that system as an important priority, thereby providing nationals with the education to get jobs in the growing economy of today.

Education was another issue raised in the survey.  When answering whether the current education system was adequately preparing nationals for employment in the private sector, only 24 per cent replied in the affirmative.  A full 44 per cent answered in the negative and 32 per cent were recorded as being unsure.

Nearly 40 per cent of businesses polled stated that local grads lacked skills in mathematics and nearly 50 per cent stated that they lacked English skills.  Also, 75 per cent of businesses polled noted the nationals lack an “ability to work under pressure.”

Al Darmaki noted that although the UAE is a nation of learning, they are also a country of young people and have a different culture rising up.  Issues need to be overcome in this mix.

The presence of women in the workforce has changed significantly in the last five years.  As talks of part-time labor move forward the potential for even more women becoming employed climbs.

A law regarding part-time work will have an effect on a large portion of Emiratis, according to al Darmaki.  He noted that the possibility of women working shorter four hour shifts and the opportunities for commuters to find employment should increase.

Issues of cultural and economic differences between nationals and foreign employers still need to be overcome.  Although the UAE is a modern economy, the cultural differences cannot be avoided.  Some nationals require flexible hours due to familial responsibilities.  Also higher salary expectations for nationals are often due to the fact that they are the sole earner in an extended family.

Most of those were commercial industry business licenses (3,094), although the licenses issued in the professional sector number 914 and the industry sector claimed 64, according to the DED.

The top ten licensed business activities in the commercial sector were led by “ready-made garments” with 536, with “Perfumes and cosmetics” trailing just behind with 433 licenses issued and “General trade” claiming 431.

Of the top ten licensed business activities in the professional sector, “Restaurants” was number one with 135 issued.  “Residences and building cleaning services” followed closely with 131 issued, “Café” claimed 68, there were 62 issued for “Selling snacks” and 60 for “Men’s barber.”

The industrial sector was led by “Metal work industry” specifically for construction that had seven issued licenses.  “Blacksmith and welding workshops” had six and three other business activities had four issued each: “Construction of metal industry;” “Construction of metal parts;” and “Mirror and glass work.”

The DED reported that there were 101,982 total transactions during Q2, which was 13 per cent higher than the 90,638 from the second quarter of 2009.

There were 22,842 licenses renewed and 12,897 licenses amended, up 21 per cent from the 10,689 amended in Q2 of 2009. Great news for the UAE economy as a whole as well as the jobs market in the GCC.

The finishing touches are being put on a group of laws that reach companies and auditors, including competition and anti-fraud laws, certificate of origin and foreign investment regulations, industry and industry ownership and a drafted arbitration law.  This was stated by Al Mansouri and reported by Bloomberg.

The gross domestic product (GDP) of the UAE has a projected growth of around 2.25 per cent during this year of recovery from the widespread economic crisis, according to Al Mansouri.

The minister compared the conditions to fair skies after the dark clouds of worldwide financial crisis and noted that fresh green growth can be found all around with a generally positive stance.  He noted at a meeting put on by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce that real GDP for 2010 was estimated to grow between 0.6 and 3.2 per cent, creating an average estimation of 2.25 per cent growth.

Inflation was extremely low in the first six months of this year, averaging at only 0.43 per cent, compared to around 15 per cent inflation that was recorded during the booming time around 2007.

Al Mansouri stated that the UAE government’s fast intervention likely saved the nation from the being hit even harder during the economic crisis.

He credits both an inherently strong national economy and the country’s determination, as well as the government’s swift actions for the UAE’s progress despite the damage done in the world’s leading economies.

Al Mansouri noted that the UAE led the way globally by reassuring investors and business with secured deposits and pumping the banking industry with liquidity, as well as taking the necessary steps to fill in gaps found in the legal framework of the nation.

Non oil exports over the period between February and July hit AED31 billion, while re-exports were AED62 billion and imports were AED189 billion in the same period.

As the crisis hit, Al Mansouri said that many nations stopped and changed gears to fight the fires with their doors closed for protection.  The UAE, on the other hand, saw opportunities within the crisis and took hold of them, emerging in a position of strength.

Saudi Arabia does not have an elected parliament and runs on an absolute monarchy structure where protests and other public displays of opposition are not generally tolerated.

Levels of unemployment climbed to 10.5 per cent in the previous year based on official figures.  Job creation for the quickly expanding native population that has risen above 18 million is an enormous challenge for the nation’s longstanding leadership.

The local media displayed photos of the protestors, who had graduated from state universities and were anchored outside the education ministry buildings demanding employment as Arabic language instructors and teachers.

One protestor carried a slogan reading “Enough injustice” as they stood outside the government building.

The official population of 27.1 million includes Saudi nationals who receive some social benefits.  Those benefits fall below the amounts that a selection of Gulf oil producing nations like Qatar and Kuwait grant to their natives, even though their national populations are smaller.

A large amount of Saudi nationals must find employment in the private sector just to get by, working as taxi drivers, in security or in various other lower paying jobs.

Saudi Arabia does not release figures on the employment situation in the Kingdom publically as this data can serve to highlight the gaps in wealth levels found in this, one of the globe’s wealthiest nations.

Even though Saudi Arabia enjoys widespread oil resources they struggle to create employment for natives.  This is mainly because of a stale education system that puts more emphasis on religious training and less on essential job skills to assist in diversifying the oil-heavy economy that also has an overloaded public sector.

A local newspaper reported that the protestors had been unable to land a job in Saudi after university graduation, according to the spokesman for the group, Nayef al-Tamimi.

Al-Tamimi was quoted noting his surprise that even though there was a need for more teaching staff, the ministry had little opportunities available and no interest in opening more.

The ministry of education did release a statement in the local media saying that the ministry had no authority over hiring but simply worked with the demand created by the amount of teacher positions allocated to them.  No ministry spokesperson could be reached for further comments.

Since gaining office in 2005 King Abdullah has been working to implement major changes in the outdated legal and education systems.  Those reforms have been blocked by the bureaucracy that is controlled by Saudi’s religious elite.

Officials supporting Abdullah and his reforms worry that those unemployed young people will be drawn into militancy if the situation does not change.

Users are being warned by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) in Bahrain as well as by phone operators Zain, Viva and Batelco that the required personal information must be registered before midnight on August 31^st or these clients will have their service suspended.

This latest cell phone stand off is being pushed due to TRA regulations dating from July 2008.  The implementation is designed to prevent anonymous users from using the law abiding mobile networks for illegitimate and possibly illegal activities and was put forward in the name of public safety and security.

In the past pre-paid numbers were being registered by anonymous users and many nations have found evidence that those accounts were involved in the coordination of criminal activities.  The requirement to register personal details and provide valid identification before a pre-paid line will be issued is meant to deter that type of use.

The phone operators in Bahrain are in the process of contacting any nonregistered or incorrectly registered clients by leaving voicemails or SMS messages that notify them of the requirements and the registration deadline.

Habib Zain Al Abidine said the number of pilgrims that can be accommodated in the city during the hajj is 1.5 million and that the plans were been investigated by the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars.

Two options are being considered.  The construction of concrete buildings or a set up consisting of modern tent designs are both possibilities.  The over one million pilgrims will be housed with tents or in multistory buildings, according to Al Abidine, who noted that this project may be ready in only five years.

These plans would provide more room for pilgrims visiting the holy sites during the hajj, as approximately 2.5 million pilgrims across the globe perform hajj annually.

The city of Mina lies east of the city of Makkah.  Mina has had an important role in the past as a location where pilgrims erected tents and lived temporarily.

Al Abidine also reported that three separate projects totaling $373 million will be up for approval.  These projects are to allow for a car park to be built, construction of toilets near the holy sites and the moving of existing slaughterhouses outside the city of Mina.

Also, the minister reported that the new $1.6 billion train link between Arafat, Makkah, Muzdalifa and Mina will carry 150,000 pilgrims this year.

The amount of international air traffic rose in July, but slowed down from the growth rate recorded in June.  This data offers new proof that the recovering economy is beginning to wane.

Figures from the IATA stated that international scheduled air freight traffic grew 22.7 per cent this July over the same month last year.  The airline industry body also noted that international passenger traffic grew 9.2 per cent.

The figures for cross-border air shipments are seen as an important gauge on the status of global trade.  The IATA measures that data in freight tonne kilometers.

This growth and recovery has come quicker than expected, according to Giovanni Bisignani.  The Director General and CEO of the IATA also noted that looking ahead to the close of this year, the rate of growth will probably slow down.

North American and European consumer confidence is still frail.

These weak confidence levels are having an effect on both the leisure sector and freight traffic.  After the demand for cargo grew based on re-stocking inventory levels, growth from that point is based mainly on consumer spending which is still weak, according to Bisignani.

The 240 airlines handling 94 per cent of all international air traffic are represented by the IATA.  There is no data included for domestic flights.