Indonesia To Focus On Sending Out Formal Workers Next Year

By Ahmad Fuad Yahya JAKARTA, Dec 31 (Bernama) -- Indonesia will focus its attention on sending workers in the formal sector for the foreign market next year. National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Workers (BNP2TKI) chief Jumhur Hidayat said semi-skilled, skilled and professional workers would be sent to the Asia-Pacific region, Middle East, Europe and Africa. "This year is historic as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had re-evaluated all policies on placement of Indonesian workers, specifically maids, whose placements will be reduced in the future starting with the Middle Eastern area and then the Asia-Pacific," he said here today. Throughout 2011, Indonesia exported 510,000 workers to several countries. Indonesia's Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar, prior to this, had repeatedly stated that the placement of Indonesian maids was no longer tenable as they worked 24 hours, lived with their employers and were not protected by law. Jumhur said BNP2TKI had visited several Asia-Pacific and African countries this year to promote skilled and formal workers and as a result, hundreds of thousands of jobs were waiting for workers from Indonesia. -- BERNAMA