DILI, july 14, 2023 (TATOLI)– The Secretary of State for Professional Training and Employment (SoSVTE), Rogério Araújo Mendonça, and the South Korean Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Shin Mantaek, today discussed increasing cooperation ties and increasing the quota for 5.000 Timorese workers every year.
“We discussed bilateral cooperation between countries and focused on employment sectors. Currently, we only request a quota of 1,000 workers every year. So, we want to increase it to 5.000 every year,” Explained Rogério Araújo Mendonça at the SoSVTE Caicoli office on friday.
The main reason Korea wants to increase the quota for Timor-Leste is because the demand for labor is increasing not only in Factories and Fisheries but in other fields such as Agriculture, Automotive, and others.
“If you wish to add to the quota, we must ensure the qualification of Timorese workers, and currently, out of 100 candidates, only 10 pass, which means we have to increase our human resources,” he explained.
Responding to this concern, SEFOPE also seeks to open a special Korean language training center in Oecusse to facilitate the process for young people who wish to work in South Korea.
South Korea itself, through its agency, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), plans to open a Korean Language and Culture Training Center in Timor-Leste.
In the meeting that lasted for about an hour, the two sides also discussed the problem of the increasing number of illegal workers in South Korea, which had reached 30%, and how Timor-Leste and Korea could take appropriate action.
The South Korean Ambassador in Timor-Leste, Shin Mantaek, expressed his deep gratitude to Timor-Leste for continuing to send workers to South Korea.
“I came to congratulate Secretary of State Rogerio Araújo on being selected as SEFOPE, and I believe he has a lot of experience. We had good discussions. Thank you to those who are already working in South Korea, and we will continue to accept workers from Timor-Leste,” he said.
He also asked the workers not to take action to get out of the monitoring system; in addition to that, the Timor-Leste labor attaché must also actively assist the workers.
According to data from SEFOPE, from 2009 to june 2023, it has provided 5562 job opportunities in three fields such as fisheries, manufacturing, and agriculture in South Korea.
Journalist: José Belarmino De Sá
Editor: Nelia
