The head of the Kuwaiti Federation of Domestic Labor Offices Khaled Al-Dakhnan called for the urgent signing of the labor agreement with Ethiopia, reports Al-Qabas daily. Al-Dakhnan told the daily, the Ethiopian ambassador confirmed during a recent meeting that his country has given the ‘go ahead’ to the Kuwaiti terms of the agreement, and that Ethiopia is waiting for the invitation to sign the MoU. Al-Dakhnan pointed out that the recruitment of Ethiopian workers will contribute significantly to reducing the prices of new contracts for domestic workers.
He mentioned the contracts signed with Ethiopia will be less than what is currently available in the labor market in terms of cost and monthly salaries. In turn, the Federation advisor, Abdulaziz Al-Ali told the daily that contacts were made with officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Public Authority for Manpower regarding the urgency to sign the agreement with the Ethiopian side.
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Al-Ali pointed out that the Kuwaiti and Ethiopian parties agreed on some points and they were completed and submitted to the Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which “we hope will speed up its work and sign the agreement, indicating that the Ethiopian labor that will be brought to Kuwait will be of what he called sufficient experience and training.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Kuwait, HE Othman Jowhar said his country has cut down the fees for the recruitment of domestic workers from his country to between 230 dinars and 245 dinars instead of 475 dinars, reports Al-Rai daily. However, the ambassador added, this is only for individual sponsors and not the domestic labor recruiting offices in Kuwait for whom the fee is set at 890 dinars by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Commerce. He added, this came after several complaints were received from citizens regarding the high fees for signing contracts for the recruitment of domestic workers. He added the embassy does not use the K-net payment system and that the fees are received in cash only.
He disclosed about 30,000 labor contracts from his country were completed at the embassy over the past six months. This is in response to the complaint of several Kuwaitis regarding the high fee for attesting contracts for the recruitment of domestic workers from Sri Lanka. In a statement to the daily, Jowhar explained this fee is applicable to individual contracts brought by the sponsors only; not the contracts issued through the accredited labor offices in Kuwait, in which the fee is fixed at KD890. He added the embassy does not use the K-Net payment system, as it receives fees in cash only./Arab Times
