KUWAIT CITY, Dec 14: The Kuwait Society for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) has requested the Public Authority for Manpower to exempt SMEs from Decree No. 1280 of 2017, which forbids the issuance of work permits for qualified expatriates who are below the age of 30.

In a letter addressed to the Authority, the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Society, Sheikh Hamoud Al-Shamlan Al-Sabah, said the Society has received several complaints from the SMEs objecting the decision because of the bad impact it has on SMEs entrepreneurs.

The call is an incentive for the concerned authorities in this vital sector to support the society in order to unite efforts to highlight the negative impact of this decision on owners of small and medium enterprises in particular.

Al-Sabah said as soon as this decision was announced, the society in its capacity as a specialized public benefit organization, received a series of complaints from entrepreneurs who saw this decision as an obstacle to the development of their projects.

For SMEs it is up to them to follow up on these complaints and to scrutinize them in order to discern the effects and implications of this decision.

Al-Sabah explained “If the decision aims to give space and opportunities for Kuwaiti youth to work with the SMEs, this decision did not take into account the reality — the reluctance of Kuwaiti youth to seek employment opportunities for SMEs because a majority of them prefer to work in the government sector where there is stability, financial security and benefits.”

The decision which allows recruiting expatriates who have reached the age of 30 and above, contradicts with the obvious fact in the world of SMEs, which resort to 90 percent to newly graduated labor to lessen the financial cost and to benefit from their ability, he said. This is in addition to the cost of hiring those above the age of 30 than the newly graduated labor which is about 3 to 4 times more and which the SMEs can ill afford, he added.