Pakistan’s Gulf moment: A skills gap could decide the next decade of labor exports

https://arab.news/n63ey

For more than four decades, Pakistan and the Gulf have been bound by one of the most consequential labor corridors in the modern world. Millions of Pakistani workers from Gujrat and Sialkot, from Mardan and Mirpur, from Karachi and Lahore have built the roads, towers, refineries, hospitals, and homes that today define the skylines of Riyadh, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Muscat, and Kuwait City. Their earnings have anchored Pakistan’s external account, sustained the rupee through repeated cycles of stress, and lifted entire districts of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Azad Kashmir into a level of prosperity their domestic economies alone could never have provided. 

But this partnership is now entering a new phase, and Pakistan is arriving at the moment less prepared than it should be.

The Gulf of 2030 will not look like the Gulf of 1990. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 has unleashed an unprecedented wave of giga-projects NEOM, Qiddiya, the Red Sea Project, Diriyah, ROSHN, and the broader transformation of Riyadh — collectively requiring well over a million skilled workers across construction, hospitality, health care, technology, and advanced manufacturing. 

The GCC is not running out of labor suppliers. The question is which countries are best positioned to supply the kind of labor the next decade demands - Mehreen Durrani

The GCC is not running out of labor suppliers. The question is which countries are best positioned to supply the kind of labor the next decade demands

The United Arab Emirates is moving with equal ambition into artificial intelligence, financial services, health care innovation, aviation, and the green economy, with sovereign-scale platforms........

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