UAE Minister of Education Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan announced that he was committed to providing UAE nationals with a greater share of financial sector jobs in their country. He added that it was important that young nationals be offered a fair opportunity to participate in their county's quickly developing financial services sector.
Nahyan made the comments at the Third Banking and Financial Services Conference for UAE Nationals at the Dubai Higher Colleges of Technology recently, saying, "Our aim is to create partnership between Higher Colleges and the financial services community. I am confident these partnerships will help us understand new trends in the field and strengthen our ability to place graduates in productive employment in banks and financial institutions."
The conference, which hosted a number of workshops on stocks markets, project financing, re-financing and mortgages, was organized by the Financial Services Advisory Committee of the Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai in association with Dubai International Financial Center, according to Khaleej Times.
Nahyan stressed the need for developing competent curricula to meet the demands of the competitive industry, and suggested the cooperation of companies in designing programs for higher education in the UAE.
The minister indicated the mutual benefits that both local firms and nationals would achieve by such cooperation.
"Your presence helps us understand the challenges you face as you respond to global competition, rapidly changing technologies, new rules and regulations, and increasingly sophisticated customers," he said.
"We also understand the importance for you of recruiting and retaining qualified and talented workers. The Higher Colleges of Technology would like to help you meet this challenge, and so we ask you to continue providing employment for our graduates."
Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman, Director General of DIFCA, briefed students on the matter, saying that many opportunities awaited young graduates in the future.
"Within five years we expect more than 30,000 people working for the DIFC companies. It is our vision to encourage more nationals to join our winning team."
"In the last couple of years almost all UAE banks have doubled their profits. Leading banks in the Gulf have reported returns on equity in excess of 25 per cent and the region's capital markets have performed exceptionally well. In addition the DIFC is operational with a large number of global institutions opening up new opportunities." Sulaiman added.
