Arab labor ministers to address large unemployment problem at March meeting

Arab ministers of labor, governmental representatives, businessmen and workers in the Arab states will discuss during the Arab work conference to be held in Cairo on March 16 the opportunities for cooperation among them to confront unemployment, which is considered among the most serious social challenges in the Arab world.

The unemployment rate has reached 14% of available workers (12 million unemployed persons) in the Arab states and requires providing not less than 2.5 million job opportunities annually.

Bakr Mahmoud Rashoul, the general manager of the organization of Arab labor said that the Arab labor force reached this year nearly 86.5 million, and it is expected to increased to 123 million in the year 2010, which is still a small increase in comparison to the general population increase.