Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed reviews NAFIS’ 2022 results and 2023 Emiratisation targets

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, has chaired the first Board of Directors meeting of the Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council (ETCC) in 2023, held at Qasr Al Watan in the presence of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and vice chair of the ETCC Board of Directors.

The meeting discussed the achievements of the NAFIS programme since its establishment in terms of qualifying, supporting and enabling UAE nationals in the private sector, state news agency WAM reported.

According to the ETCC, UAE nationals have filled 70 per cent more vacancies than expected within the framework of NAFIS in 2022, with over 50,000 UAE nationals employed within the private sector.

By the end of 2022, more than 28,700 UAE nationals had joined the private sector through NAFIS’ programmes, while 32,566 were beneficiaries of NAFIS’ financial support activities.

Furthermore, data showed that 1,300 male and female students have enrolled in NAFIS’ ‘National Healthcare Programme’ and 643 enrolled in the ‘Talent Programme’.

On the other hand, the number of registered partners on the platform has reached 7,017 companies, and 17,481 job vacancies have been posted through the platform.

In addition, since its launch, NAFIS has signed 24 agreements with strategic partners, including six agreements with universities as part of the National Healthcare Programme, and four agreements with strategic partners in the semi-governmental sector in a pledge to provide more than 11,000 jobs through outsourcing companies and suppliers.

The ETCC Board reviewed the policies and decisions issued since the launch of NAFIS, which helped achieve these results. These included the cabinet’s decision to set the Emiratisation targets, and establish NAFIS Fund, and impose fines on non-compliant establishments, and transferring them to the fund, the decision regarding ETCC’s list of NAFIS-related violations and penalties, and the eligibility updates for the benefits provided by NAFIS and the increase in salary top-ups and child allowance.

The ETCC Board also reviewed the results of the set private-sector Emiratisation target of 2 per cent by the end of 2022, and data showed that a total number of 9,293 companies have reached the 2 per cent Emiratisation target or more, while the total contributions due in January 2023 from companies that have not achieved the required target in 2022 amounted to approximately Dhs400m.

During the meeting, the council addressed some of the strategic plans prepared by the Council during 2022, the most important of which included plans for supply and demand in the labour market 2022-2026, the most attractive and crucial sectors to focus Emiratisation efforts on, in addition to the most important initiatives and policies proposed for the year 2023 to advance the Emiratisation agenda in the private sector in a faster and more efficient way.

The meeting also addressed the results of the first phase of the “NAFIS… Your Way” campaign, which aims to highlight the success stories of Emiratis in the private sector and change perceptions about the work environment and opportunities that it offers, as more than 101 success stories were shared during 2022 through visual, audio and written means of communication as well as social media platforms.

Furthermore, the board approved the Emiratisation targets in the private sector for the year 2023, which aim at increasing the employment of UAE nationals in the private sector.

The board also approved the launch of the NAFIS Youth Council under the supervision of ETCC, which aims to create a platform to communicate with youth in the private sector, and for youth to be able to contribute to supporting NAFIS by participating in initiatives and discussions and sharing their success stories and achievements to benefit from their experiences and creative ideas in terms of coming up with new projects, initiatives and programmes, and identifying the challenges which face today’s youth who work in the private sector and proposing appropriate solutions.