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Ministry Recognises Only Emiratis, GCC Nationals as PROs of Firms

Humaid Rashid bin Deemas Al Suwaidi, Acting Director-General, said the ministry does not allow the renewal of the identity cards of expatriate PROs other than GCC nationals once their contracts with the companies are over.

Bin Deemas said the ministry agrees to deal with another representative in the event of the absence of the Emirati or Gulf Arab PRO because of annual leave or unavoidable circumstances and that will be under a temporary permit for a period of 60 days.

As many as 1,050 Emiratis are employed as PROs of private companies with 100 or more employees in Abu Dhabi, according to the number of ID cards issued by the ministry.

He said the ministry is ready to allow an official PRO to work for three different employers but that requires a written approval from the firm that has employed him as a permanent staff member and an official public relations representative to the government departments. An official source in the ministry said 1,050 is approximately the number of establishments in the private sector in Abu Dhabi which are obliged to recruit a UAE nationals or GCC nationals as representatives, according to the administrative circular issued in this regard at the end of 2005.

Despite the circular, the companies did not always comply with it, he said. The ministry’s decision to refuse renewal of ID cards of the expatriate PROs of these companies after the expiry of such cards forced companies to speed up the recruitment of UAE and GCC nationals as representatives.

adel@khaleejtimes.com

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