Aisha Tariq / 20 September 2012
Sri Lankan efforts to increase its export of skilled workers to the UAE were the topic of discussion in a gathering of diplomatic officials at an overseas employment promotion seminar held on September 13.
At the event, officials addressed local recruiters and employers on the
procedures and benefits associated with hiring workers from Sri Lanka. “We need
to generate more employment opportunities for our skilled labour force,” said
Sri Lankan Consul-General Abdul Raheem to the assembled agents and
representatives. “If there are any companies here in the UAE looking for
skilled labour, we are open for specified job-oriented, company-oriented
training in Sri Lanka. You can bring your people and the Sri Lanka Foreign
Employment Agency (SLFEA) will provide the platform to train the people in Sri
Lanka.”
SLFEA, the nation’s only government-owned agency, helps train the
workforce to meet demands in foreign job markets, confirmed SLFEA Chairman,
Senaka Abeygoonasekara, who had come from Sri Lanka to attend the
seminar. “Sri Lankans have undergone a minimum of ten years’ school
education and they are quite capable of adapting to higher education for career
development,” he said. The SLFEA runs 23 training centres and collaborates with
an additional 50 centres through the nation’s vocational training ministries.
Sri Lanka can train workers in a variety of fields, including carpentry,
plumbing, and information technology, should an overseas employer make the
request, Abeygoonasekara said. He mentioned that the country recently sent
thousands of skilled labourers to work in South Korea, many of them in the
automotive industry.
Sri Lanka annually deploys over 250,000 workers overseas, according to
SLFEA. The country’s greatest foreign income comes from remittances, accounting
for $5 billion of Sri Lanka’s $60 billion economy, said Consul General Raheem.
Approximately 300,000 Sri Lankans work in the UAE, with 40 per cent providing
domestic services. “Expat labour force is our power, especially in the
Middle East,” said Sri Lankan Ambassador, Sarath Wijesinghe. “The
employer-employee relationship is very crucial. Of course we receive disturbing
information, but to the credit of the agencies it’s been minimised now,” he
added, alluding to complaints received by the embassy from both employers and
workers.
The Sri Lankan government and embassies are striving to protect overseas
workers’, emphasized numerous officials speaking at the seminar. Recent
initiatives to that effect include raising the minimum working age to 21 and
setting a minimum monthly wage of Dh825. Sponsors are also required to pay a
refundable $1000 deposit as an emergency fund for their workers.
