Qatar and UAE ranked as regional job hubs

Immigration and citizenship firm, Henley & Partners has ranked Qatar and the UAE as the most attractive employment destinations in the MENA region in a new index measuring the quality of nationalities

Among the 161 nationalities listed in the Kochenov Quality of Nationality Index, Qatar occupied 60th place, followed by the UAE in 62nd place and Kuwait in 63rd place. Other GCC countries in the rankings include Saudi Arabia (68th) Oman (73rd) and Bahrain (75th).

The QNI, based on the fives year between 2011 and 2015, gave each nationality a percentage score. This score was derived from an objective calculation of the internal and external value of each nationality.

The internal value included factors such as scale of the economy, human development, and peace and stability. External factors included visa-free travel and the ability to settle and work abroad without cumbersome formalities.

It was revealed that the average value of GCC nationalities on the QNI General Rankings stood at 35.1 per cent, significantly higher then the Middle East average of 26.5 per cent.

The QNI also categorised nationalities into four tiers, from very high quality to low quality. Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait fell in the lower range of the high quality tier, while Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain were in the higher range of the medium tier.

The German nationality was consistently ranked as the highest in the world, scoring 83.1 percent over the last five years. At the bottom of the index was the Democratic Republic of Congo, which was given a score of 14.3 per cent.

Co-author of the QNI and constitutional professor Dr Dimitry Kochenov, said the index made it possible to compare the relative worth of nationalities as opposed to just countries.

“Everyone has a nationality of one or more states and these states differ to a great degree. Just as with the states, the nationalities themselves differ too. Importantly, there is no direct correlation between the power of the state and the quality of its nationality. Nationality plays a significant part in determining our opportunities and aspirations, and the QNI allows us, for the first time, to analyse this objectively,” he said.

Christian H. Kalin, co-author of the QNI and Chairman of Henley and Partners, further discussed the importance of the rankings.

“The QNI is relevant to both individuals who are interested in mobility, understanding the possibilities and the limitations of their nationality, and governments who are focused on improving the local, regional and global opportunities inherent in their passports,” Kalin explained.

The co-authors argued that the QNI cannot be seen as a perception index. It used
sources including the World Bank, the International Air Transport Association, the Institute for Economics and Peace and Henley & Partners’ own research.