Saudi Gazette report

JAKARTA — Saudi Arabia signed on Thursday a cooperation agreement with Indonesia for the resumption of recruitment of domestic workers. Minister of Labor and Social Development Ahmad Al-Rajhi and Indonesian Minister of Manpower and Immigration Muhammad Hanif Dhakiri signed the pact in the framework of strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries in the field of employment of domestic help, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The agreement paves the way for the arrival of new batches of Indonesian domestic help to the Kingdom after a gap of more than three years. In May 2015, Indonesia imposed a total ban on sending domestic workers to 21 countries, including Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. As of 2014, there were 1.5 million Indonesian domestic workers in the Kingdom.

In October last year, the two countries signed minutes for the recruitment of Indonesian domestic workers. Under the new agreement, there will be recruitment for various domestic jobs. On the sidelines of signing of the agreement, the two ministries have launched a single-channel system for employment of Indonesian workers. This is a unified electronic system agreed upon by the two parties to facilitate and expedite procedures for hiring domestic labor to the Kingdom.

Speaking on the occasion, Al-Rajhi highlighted the Kingdom’s close relations with Indonesia, and stressed the importance of cooperation and coordination in further enhancing bilateral interests of both the countries. “The future of labor relations between the Kingdom and Indonesia will be a promising one, based on solid foundations, and looking forward to developing this relationship through more efforts and coordination,” he said.

Al-Rajhi said that the signing of the agreement is the result of the fruitful relations between the two countries, which comes within the framework of the protection of rights and regulating the relations between workers and employers in accordance with the laws and regulations prevailing in both countries as well as with international conventions and treaties. It is also an effective step in the continuation of bilateral cooperation between the two countries in various fields of work,” he added.