Italy and Egypt meet online
So you want to migrate? Click here. Nyier Abdou looks at an innovative project aiding Egyptians seeking foreign employment
Egyptians seeking to work abroad are in a unique position among the world's migrant labour market with the launch on Monday of the Integrated Migration Information System (IMIS), a project aimed at helping Egyptian workers find employers abroad.
With its surplus of skilled labour and its young population, Egypt is in a strong position to feed European economies straining under the burden of ageing populations. A joint project between the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the Egyptian Ministry of Manpower and Emigration (MME) and the Italian government, the IMIS is a pilot project in regulating migration flow and maintaining contact with Egyptians working abroad. Rafaat Radwan, chairman of the Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC), hailed the project as a chance to "bridge the gap between North and South" and play a role in the "dialogue of civilisations", but what this initial IT phase really boils down to is an online matchmaking service.
Potential workers log onto a newly established, bilingual Web site (www.emigration.gov.eg), where they can post their CV in English and Arabic and search a database of employers. Using extensively detailed occupational descriptions based on International Labour Organisation lingo, some 8-10,000 job titles are listed on the site. Companies or other entrepreneurs seeking workers with particular skills can in turn search profiles of workers and contact the MME about promising candidates. Remarkably user-friendly, the IMIS Web site also caters to what publicity material refers to as the "Egyptian diaspora", as well as embassies abroad seeking to post information for potential immigrants.
The project is the first of its kind to be implemented, but the concept has attracted a great deal of interest from other governments in the region, namely those of Jordan, Syria and Yemen. Hassan Abdel-Moneim, senior regional advisor for the Middle East and special envoy to the Gulf countries at the IOM in Geneva, told Al- Ahram Weekly that Egypt -- the first country in the region to join IOM -- was chosen as the pilot project because of its importance in the region and because of Italy's keen interest in promoting working relationships with Egyptian migrants. Abdel-Moneim said that initially the project will help organise the movement of seasonal labour.
At the IMIS inauguration on Monday, Italian Ambassador Antonio Badini noted a "temporary excess" of manpower in Egypt and pointed to a dearth of manpower in some areas in Italy, saying that the IMIS project will help to improve economic and social development in Italy while allowing Egypt to "compete more effectively in the international arena".
Minister of Manpower and Emigration Ahmed El-Amawy likewise stressed the importance of increasing Egypt's ties with the world and singled out the Italian expatriate community in Egypt as historically one of the most significant. Saluting what he referred to as a "fruitful cooperation" between the two countries, El-Amawy pointed to the need to facilitate legal emigration as well as to aid Egyptian immigrants already abroad.
By facilitating this project, however, some will argue that the government is encouraging the dreaded "brain-drain" -- an exodus of Egypt's highly skilled labour. But Hassan Abdel-Moneim is tired of what he sees as an age-old threat that has never amounted to anything. "At IOM, we believe there is no 'brain drain', it's a 'brain gain'," he says. An Egyptian expatriate himself, Abdel-Moneim notes that Egyptians typically keep close ties with their families and there is a strong incentive to return home. He noted that it is important to create an environment that encourages foreign-trained workers to either return to Egypt or invest in the country.
Following the 11 September terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, many Western countries have tightened their immigration laws and show particular concern about immigration from the Middle East and other Arab countries. Asked if he thought this would affect the goals of the project, Abdel-Moneim dismissed the connection. "On the contrary, this is a win-win game for all parties," he said. By establishing the means of orderly migration, Abdel-Moneim reasons, both workers seeking suitable employment and countries in need of migrant workers benefit.
