SLBFE road show:

More jobs for Lankans in ME

by Ananda KANNANGARA

The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) will organise a massive job promotional campaign in the form of a road show in the Middle East shortly, to secure more foreign employment opportunities to Sri Lankan migrant workers in the coming years.

The objective of this program is to secure more skilled and educationally valued jobs to Lankan workers in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain where a large number of Sri Lankans are currently employed.

According to SLBFE statistics, over 1.7 million Sri Lankans are currently employed overseas of which over 1.5 million are employed in the Middle East.

Bureau statistics reveal that out of 1.5 million workers, 50 percent are females working in garment factories, hotel industries, shopping complexes and as housemaids.

Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Minister Dilan Perera told the Sunday Observer that although job placement programs were conducted in some Middle Eastern countries even last year, the proposed 'road show' will help a large number of Lankans secure non-labourer and non-housemaid category jobs. The 'road show' program will be represented by Minister Perera and senior SLBFE officials. Many Sri Lankan and foreign job agents will be represented at the meeting.

Minister Perera further said that he will discuss employment and non-employment matters related to Sri Lankan female workers at the meeting.

He said he has another objective of reducing the number of Sri Lankan women seeking housemaid jobs abroad especially those who are married and have small children and also stop sending women who are under 18 years of age abroad.