Businessmen have called for serious efforts to encourage Bahrainis to work in the gold and jewellery sector.

The Industry and Commerce Ministry said the move was essential given the fact most government or private sector schemes had failed.

'There is insufficient skilled Bahraini manpower to meet employment demand in the sector in comparison to the highly qualified Asian workers,' it said in a statement.

'Difficult work conditions (environmental, long working hours and income) are considered to be the main barriers preventing Bahrainis from entering the industry.

'The high price of gold has reduced the profit margin of gold trading and thus the opportunity for employment has reduced.'

The statement comes after the country's gold traders sent out an SOS to the government, saying the industry was losing business and bulk customers were going to other markets.

Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry Gold and Pearl Jewellery Committee head Mohammed Sajid Shaikh said several of Bahrain's traders had been unable to meet order deadlines.

'We are only now recovering somewhat from the crisis that engulfed Bahrain in February and March,' he told our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News (GDN).

'However, we are facing an acute shortage of skilled craftsmen and have been unable to recruit workers due to the government's policies on Bahrainisation.'

Shaikh said the government insisted they hire the same number of Bahrainis they had in 2008 to be eligible for new expatriate visas.

'Most Bahrainis who we had three years ago were women who have since moved on and no skilled workers are now available,' he said.

'And if we cannot reach the 2008 levels, we cannot recruit expatriates.'

Shaikh said skills as diamond cutters, engravers and polishers were not available among Bahrainis.

'The result is we cannot cope with the demand and have fallen back on order delivery dates,' he said.

The businessman said while some customers had stopped coming to Bahrain, others had been queueing up to get their orders completed.

'We are managing as best as we can but need more people,' he said.

Shaikh claimed the Bahrainisation level of 20 per cent was 'far too much' and said it should be cut to 5 per cent.

'This may only be a temporary measure until we get beck on our feet,' he said.

He said this would ease the labour market and help revive the gold and jewellery industry so it could contribute more to Bahrain's economy.'

Shaikh earlier said the trade lost more than $1 million (BD378,000) a day in the week businesses remained shut between March 13 and 19.

He said some of Bahrain's gold workshops had already relocated to the UAE because their workshop permits had not been renewed with municipal authorities rejecting them on health, environment and security grounds.

The situation has become so bad that jewellery manufacturers in the suq were now sharing equipment and manpower, said Shaikh.

The ministry said Bahrain's gold industry had a reputation for precision manufacturing and the beauty of its traditional designs and high quality made it internationally famous.

'However, in light of the growth and development of gold markets in other countries and the facilities traders have been provided there, market activity of Bahraini gold began to decline gradually and some workshops moved, attracted by the presence of facilities and tax exemptions,' said the statement.

'This, in turn, affected the development of the industry in Bahrain, which has also been declining because of other factors such as the global economic crisis and higher prices of precious metals.'-TradeArabia News Service