Qatar and the UAE rank as top MENA region job hubs

The Quality of Nationality Index (QNI), the first global indicator to rank the worth of nationalities, has pinpointed Qatar and the UAE as the most attractive employment destinations in the Middle East North Africa region.

The QNI, unveiled by Henley & Partners, a global leader in residence and citizenship planning, has placed Qatar and the UAE in the 60th and 62nd positions globally, among 161 nationalities surveyed.

Other GCC countries ranked on the index include Kuwait (63rd), Saudi Arabia (68th), Oman (73rd), and Bahrain (75th).

GCC nationalities are also categorised into a high to medium quality of nationality.

The nationalities of the GCC belong to the lower range of the high-quality tier (Qatar, UAE, and Kuwait) and the higher range of the medium-quality tier (Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Bahrain) on the QNI General Ranking.

The QNI, which explores both internal factors — scale of economy, human development, peace and stability — and external factors including visa-free travel and the ability to settle and work abroad without cumbersome formalities, also reveals that the average value of GCC nationalities on the QNI General Ranking (35.1%) is substantially higher than the Middle Eastern average of 26.5%.

The QNI consistently ranked the German nationality the highest in the world over the last five years with a score of 83.1%. The nationality of the Democratic Republic of Congo sits at the bottom of the index on 14.3%.

Professor Dr Dimitry Kochenov, a co-author of the QNI and a leading constitutional law professor, said the key premise of the index is that it is possible to compare the relative worth of nationalities — as opposed to, simply, countries.

“Everyone has a nationality of one or more states and these states differ to a great degree. Just as with the states, the nationalities themselves differ too. Importantly, there’s no direct correlation between the power of the state and the quality of its nationality.

“Nationality plays a significant part in determining our opportunities and aspirations, and the QNI allows us, for the first time, to analyse this objectively,” said Kochenov.

He explained that the quality measure is not a perception index.

“It uses an array of objective sources to gauge the opportunities and limitations that each nationality gives its owners.”

Data from the World Bank, the International Air Transport Association, the Institute for Economics and Peace and Henley & Partners' own research blends into this objective. A transparent measurement tool divides the nationalities of the world into four tiers based on quality, from very high to low, giving a clear picture of the standing of each nationality at a glance.

Christian H. Kalin, a co-author of the QNI, said the index is relevant to both individuals who are interested in mobility, understanding the possibilities and the limitations of their nationality, and governments who are focused on improving the local, regional and global opportunities inherent in their passports.

To calculate the internal value of each nationality, which comprises 40% of the score, QNI takes into account three sub-elements.

These include the economic strength of the country, measured by gross domestic product (15%); scale of human development, as expressed by the United Nations Human Development Index (15%), and the level of peace and stability, according to the Global Peace Index (10%).

The external value of nationality accounts for 60% of ranking score. There are four sub-elements including the diversity of settlement freedom (15%); weight of settlement freedom (15%); diversity of travel freedom (15%), and weight of travel freedom (15%).

Courtesy: khaleejtimes.com