VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia and Saudi Arabia discussed the placement and protection scheme for Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI) during a bilateral meeting held on the sidelines of the second meeting of the G20 Employment Working Group (EWG).

EWG is a G20 working group that has been mandated to broker joint commitments on promoting employment and decent workplaces to encourage sustainable, equitable, and inclusive economic growth.

"The meeting was quite productive as we have discussed several issues regarding the One Channel System agreement (on the workers’ placement),” secretary general of the Manpower Ministry, Anwar Sanusi, remarked in a statement received here on Tuesday.

The discussion also included the cooperation agreement on information technology systems between Saudi Arabia’s job market app MUSANED and Indonesia’s online-based integrated employment service, SISNAKER, he added.

The secretary general held the meeting with the Deputy of Minister of Labor of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Ahmed Alzahrani, in Yogyakarta on May 10, 2022.

He informed that during the meeting, the two parties also talked about the extension of the Technical Arrangement for the One Channel Placement System (SPSK), which has expired.

Basically, the two countries hold the same views regarding the agreement, however, there are a number of issues that must be agreed upon, he said.

"A technical team will immediately follow up on the result of the bilateral meeting. Hopefully, the discussion will be continued at the higher levels, including the ministerial level, and the ministers will immediately approve the technical arrangement," Sanusi added.

During the meeting, the two nations also discussed opportunities for placing Indonesian formal sector workers in Saudi Arabia since the kingdom is carrying out a national economic transformation currently, he said.

"It (the economic transformation) will open up a lot of job opportunities. Thus, as directed by our Manpower Minister (Ida Fauziyah), in the future, we will send more skilled workers to the country—not domestic workers," he added.

The second G20 EWG meeting is taking place in Yogyakarta from May 10–12, 2022. Its main focus issues are entrepreneurship, the development of micro, small, and medium enterprises, as well as social protection for employees. (Antaranews)