The Republic of Korea has agreed to increase the annual intake of Sri Lankan expatriate workers to 15,000 following the personal intervention of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Minister Dilan Perera disclosed this at an awards ceremony organised by the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment at the Carlton Auditorium, Tangalle.
A batch of 247 foreign job aspirants in the Hambantota District who had successfully completed a Korean Language training course conducted by the SLBFE received awards and certificates from the Minister at this ceremony.
Read moreMinister Perera said countries exporting expatriate labour to the Republic of Korea are allowed an annual quota of 5,000 workers each. However Sri Lanka had been able to get this increased to 7,500 earlier.
“Korea has agreed to increase this to 15,000 following talks the President had with the Korean Deputy Commerce Minister who visited Sri Lanka recently. This showed that Korea had a very favourable attitude towards Sri Lanka,” Perera said.
Addressing the job seekers the Minister said: “Once you proceed to Korea for employment shortly you will be considered as mini ambassadors of Sri Lanka. Therefore you should always act with a sense of discipline to create a good impression about Sri Lankans among the Korean people.
“Such good conduct will help the country to snatch more employment opportunities abroad for Sri Lankans.”
Minister Perera said only 47 persons from Hambantota received Korean jobs in 2004. This has been increased to 857 by last year. Now another 247 from Hambantota have qualified to go for employment in Korea this year.
Courtesy - Daily News
