A high-level Japanese diplomatic delegation which met Labour and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara yesterday agreed to help Sri Lanka establish a Vocational Training Centre targeting the automobile industry to train local youth for jobs in the automobile industry in Japan. Those who undergo the training successfully at the centre will be eligible for direct employment opportunities in Japan. This initiative is expected to bring more job opportunities to Sri Lankan workers in the automobile sector in Japan.
This assurance was given when a Japanese diplomatic delegation including Fujimaru Satoshi, State Minister of Cabinet Office of Japan and Yamamoto Kozo, former Minister of State for Overcoming Population Decline and Promotion of Local Economy Revitalization met Minister Manusha Nanayakkara at the Labour and Foreign Employment Ministry yesterday.
Attention was focused on establishing this vocational training centre aimed at employment in Japan and starting it as a joint venture between the public and private sectors. Minister Nanayakkara also expressed his agreement to provide the intervention and support of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau for this effort. After the opening of the Vocational Training Centre, the Japanese delegation highlighted the possibility of directly opening employment opportunities in Japan to all those who will be trained there.
There is a need to recruit 6.5 million workers from foreign countries for jobs in Japan in the next few years, and views were exchanged at length regarding how Sri Lankan workers can contribute to meet that labour demand.
The high-level Japanese diplomatic delegation assured to give priority to Sri Lankan workers under the Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) system which gives foreign nationals more opportunities to work in Japan. Also the discussion focused on the employment opportunities in Japan in the care giver sector as such opportunities for foreign nationals are growing due to the high level of elderly population in Japan. The Japanese diplomats said that they are ready to hire more Sri Lankan workers to complete the labour demand in Japan. The Japanese diplomats also noted that due to the close cultural and religious relations between Japan and Sri Lanka, they are willing to hire more Sri Lankan workers. Accordingly, Minister Manusha Nanayakkara explained that he has prepared the necessary arrangements for Sri Lanka to become number one among the labour supplying countries to Japan.
Minister Manusha Nanayakkara also explained that he has obtained the Cabinet’s approval to include Japanese language learning in the school curriculum, and that the National Institute of Education is currently working on the necessary activities to implement the proposal. The minister went on to say that with the intervention of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau, 5,000 people are being given Japanese language training. The minister also mentioned that 17,000 have faced the Japanese language proficiency exam held recently.
Minister Nanayakkara thanked Japan for opening up 3 of the 14 fields where workers are recruited to Japan under the SSW programme, and requested that the job opportunities in the other fields be opened to Sri Lanka as soon as possible.
During his visit to Japan, the Minister explained to the Japanese representatives about the agreements reached to develop Gojo City and Galle City as sister cities and about the “Visit Goal” project to attract more Japanese tourists to Sri Lanka. The Minister also requested the Minister of State of Cabinet Office in Japan to pay attention to the possibility of starting direct flights between Japan and Sri Lanka.
Minister Manusha Nanayakkara also thanked the Japanese diplomas for the support provided by the Japanese government to Sri Lanka in order to find solutions to the economic crisis facing the country.
Hirose Takayuki, former State Ministry Secretary for Overcoming Population Decline and Promoting Local Economy Revitalization and Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Mizukoshi Hideaki,Representatives of the Japanese Embassy, Secretary to the Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment R.P.A.Wimalaweera, and other ministry officials were also present on this occasion.
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