Set up own firms, don’t look only for govt jobs: DM chief

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Set up own firms, don’t look only for govt jobs: DM chief Sajila Saseendran / 12 February 2014 Hussain Nasser Lootah says government cannot hire all Emiratis and they should start their own companies instead of becoming employees. The government cannot hire all Emiratis and they should start their own companies instead of becoming employees or civil servants, Dubai’s civic chief Hussain Nasser Lootah said at the Dubai Government Summit on Tuesday. Speaking at a session on “Optimising Government Service: The Potential of Public-Private Partnerships,” Lootah said unemployment of citizens was a dangerous indicator that they were heavily relying on government for jobs. “If we start considering citizens as our workforce, we will end up having all of them as employees or civil servants. It is not a healthy mindset. They should stop looking for jobs and instead build ideas for making their own companies and providing jobs to others.” Lootah’s remarks received applause from the audience, including heads of several government departments. He noted that the electronic revolution in each and every household itself has a huge dimension in building specialised projects. “Small and medium companies play an important role in delivering services. The government sector cannot be responsible for hiring all. Young Emiratis should explore such opportunities,” he said. Speaking to Khaleej Times after the session, he said government departments could no longer employ many Emirati graduates. “Media keep saying (government) find jobs for Emiratis and there is unemployment. I don’t agree with it. Most of the government departments have all of them. It is time to reverse the process. “We should study and prepare small projects and ask Emiratis to run them. Every year we have a lot of graduates. Some of them can be employees, but not all. They should be bosses. We need more and more young Emirati men and women to start SMEs.” At the session, he said how private-public partnership should focus on satisfying the customers by meeting their needs within a timeframe. He said the municipality already had partnership with private firms in projects like the upcoming Crocodile Park and the existing waste-to-energy plant that generates electricity from landfill waste. Fadi Ghandour, founder and vice-chairman of the Board of Directors, Aramex, said empowerment of entrepreneurs is a solution for unemployment of youth. He called for financial support from banks, with government’s guarantee, for unemployed youth to start SMEs. Lootah noted that there were a few government initiatives under Tanmia and Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for SME Development that supported Emiratis to set up SMEs. sajila@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Taylor Scott International

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