Not a single worker has come to Cyprus from Egypt under an intergovernmental agreement between the two countries, Labour Minister Marinos Moushouttas said on Thursday. The scheme has failed to take off even though it was recently expanded to cover more sectors.
Speaking after a session of the Labour Advisory Board, Moushouttas said the agreement had not drawn the expected response. He said this was despite extensive efforts by his ministry to inform people about it.
He was asked to comment on a Phileleftheros report on the difficulty the construction industry faces in finding workers. In response, he stressed the need to put the Egypt agreement into practice.
The deal originally covered agriculture, livestock farming and one or two other sectors. Moushouttas said it was extended during a ministerial visit to Egypt at Easter to include construction, tourism, computing and retail.
Since then, he said, both Cypriot officials and representatives of the Egyptian government have been working to get the process started. Under the agreement, people interested in working in specific occupations can be identified and matched to jobs in Cyprus.
“For various reasons, we have so far not managed to bring over a single worker,” he said.
Moushouttas said the agreement would help ease labour shortages in certain occupations to some extent. He added that the Republic of Cyprus should not be left exposed, apparently referring to the risk of the deal being sidelined and never implemented.
He also said requests from large companies for workers in specific trades are under review. Most of these requests are for construction, and they were forwarded by the Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEB) and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI).
He said his ministry had agreed with the Deputy Ministry of Migration that applications made under the Egypt agreement would be examined as a priority.
