Four Dubai World affiliates, some of which are accredited by two Philippine recruitment agencies, have assured that the crisis in the emirate will have little impact on the employment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said Saturday.

Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito Roque said that Drydocks World has expressed confidence there will be no lay-offs of OFWs in their firm. Drydocks currently employs 4,000 OFWs.

DP World also made the same assurance since they are not included in the loan restructuring efforts, said Roque.

Meanwhile, Istithmar World and Dubai Multi Commodities Center, both of which are not accredited by any Philippine recruitment agencies, reportedly have few OFWs processed on a name hire basis.

“Supposedly, ang construction sector talaga ang tatamaan kung magtuloy-tuloy yung crisis. Pero sa ngayon walang Filipino ang nagtratrabaho sa construction sa Dubai,’’ Roque said in an interview.

“As reported by Labor Attachè Virginia P. Calvez of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Dubai, the crisis affecting the Dubai World, a major investment firm, is purely a commercial concern with very little impact on OFWs employed with this firm,’’ he added.

Roque noted that the crisis is not expected to affect the economy of Dubai and the entire United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Dubai World is an independent commercial firm that manages and supervises businesses and projects for the Dubai government across a wide range of industry to promote Dubai as a hub for commerce and trading.

In November this year, the company made an announcement about its plan to restructure its loans and requested creditors for a six-month grace period for payment.

The news troubled investors and foreign workers in that country and urged their respective governments to put up contingency measures to mitigate the impact of the crisis.

While it had expressed optimism that the crisis will not result in mass termination, the DoLE immediately put in place safety nets in case OFWs will be affected.

Roque said the Dubai economy is an integral part of UAE which is the second largest Arab economy. There are over 200,000 OFWs working in the emirate.

Recently, the UAE Central Bank moved to inject more liquidity into the UAE banking system to prevent worsening of the situation and subsequently sustain the Dubai economy.