DILI, 16 february 2022 (TATOLI) – The Secretary of State for Vocational Training and Employment (SEFOPE) has planned to send more than 2800 workers to Australia, and 500 workers to South Korea in 2022, the National Director of Foreign Employment (DNEE) of SEFOPE, Filomeno Soares has said.
“This year we plan to send more than 2800 young Timorese workers to work in Australia under the Pacific Labor Scheme Program (PLS) and the Seasonal Worker Program (SWP). So, we have planned to send more than 300 workforces to work under the PLS program, meanwhile, for the SWP we will send more than 2500 workers this year,” Soares told TATOLI at his office, in Dili, on wednesday.
Soares said it was important to have a plan: “It doesn’t matter whether we achieve our target or not, but at least we have a plan to work on it.”
“We may send more than 2800 workers this year, or it could be less than this targeted number,” he said.
In addition, SEFOPE would also send more than 500 workforces to work in South Korea in 2022.
Soares said every year, South Korea required 500 workers from Timor-Leste: “But we can send more than 500 workers and it could be 515 or 520 this year.”
He said as a small nation, sending more than 500 workers to South Korea is a pretty big number compared to other countries like Indonesia with a big population but only sending between 3000 and 4000 workers to South Korea every year.
As of may 2021, the number of foreign workers in South Korea rose to 855.000, up 7.000 or 0.9 percent from the previous year, according to the data by Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Justice.
Earlier, Soares said that since the implementation of the Seasonal Worker Program in 2011, the Government of Timor-Leste had sent more than 5000 young Timorese workers to work in Australia: “So far, these workers had contributed more than US$14 million to Timor-Leste,” he said.
On the other hand, more than 4000 workers had been sent to work in South Korea since the introduction of the program in 2009, and currently, more than 3000 Timorese workers are still working in South Korea.
He highlighted that every year Timorese workers in South Korea contribute more than US$2 million to Timor-Leste.
Last month, Soares stressed that: “Since 2009, Timorese workers in South Korea have contributed more than US$39 million to the country. Hence, the income from this program is greater than the US$11 million that we have invested so far”.
Related news:SEFOPE provides Pre-departure Briefing to 86 Timorese workers before departure to Australia
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Rafy Belo
