As news of mass layoff and closure of multinational companies in and outside the country greeted Filipinos day after day, Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait, Ricardo Endaya, recently shared good news that seems like a ray of sunlight amidst dark clouds.

In a report that appeared in Arab Times, Ambassador Endaya, informed that companies in Kuwait are set to hire 5,000 new overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

He said this during the press conference of the Philippines Employment & Remittance Summit 2009 held at Tayba Tent of Movenpick Hotel in the Kuwait Free Trade Zone in Shuwaikh.

Endaya said, “Despite the prevailing global economic recession resulting in the rising number of unemployment and retrenchment, we are glad that the demand for Filipino workers in Kuwait has not been greatly affected by this economic downturn.”

He added, “Most of these Kuwaiti companies need staff in the hotels, restaurants as well as semi and skilled workers including workers in the health sector.”

The Philippine Ambassador said that the aim of the two-day event that features recruitment agencies that present their company profiles to local employers and human resource officers is to promote the skills of OFWs.

Endaya explained, “I believe that it’s just but timely now to hold this event. We hope to generate more jobs for Filipinos and we are also very happy that despite the strict implementation of the minimum salary requirement of Filipino workers at KD120, most companies have complied with this directive, with the exception of a handful few," he said.

Recruitment agencies from the Philippines as well as their counterparts in Kuwait and several dignitaries attended the event. It was sponsored by the Philippine Embassy and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) led by Labor Attaché Josephus Jimenez in cooperation with the Asian Cultural Network.

The event also aims to emphasize the important role that foreign remittance companies play in the lives of OFWs and their families in the Philippines.

He said, “We have invited various remittance companies to the summit to boost networking between companies and the OFWs."

View the latest job openings in Kuwait at Workabroad.ph