Agreement to provide 3,500 jobs for Lankans in Italy

Sri Lanka yesterday signed an agreement with the government of Italy to provide 3500 jobs a year for Sri Lankans in Italy.

The agreement was signed by Foreign Employment and Welfare Minister Dilan Perera and his Italian counterpart Maurizio Sacconi in Rome yesterday. Officials and diplomats of both countries are discussing the early implementation of this agreement. The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) is in the process of planning training courses and Italian language proficiency programmes to be commenced from the mid of 2012 for the Sri Lankans seeking employment overseas. Under this agreement, Sri Lankans seeking jobs in Italy will have vacancies of care-givers, drivers, home gardeners and skilled employees for agricultural sector in Italy.

Minister Dilan Perera said that the agreement entered into by Sri Lanka and Italy will lay down specific emphasis on several matters such as, basic salary, service conditions and overtime payments and this agreement will not affect over 75,000 Sri Lankans who are already working in the country. He said that a full account of employment avenues that would be made available to Sri Lankans under this agreement can be obtained on Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau's website and warned the public not to fall into the prey of middlemen who are in the habit of resorting to various illegal methods to send them to Italy.