Saudi Arabia has expressed its willingness to raise the minimum wage of Sri Lankan domestic workers employed in the Kingdom and to recruit more Sri Lankans for the construction and health sectors, Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Employment said.

The matters were discussed during the first official bilateral discussion between Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Employment and Labour Manusha Nanayakkara and Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Eng. Ahmad bin Sulaiman AlRajhi on Tuesday (08).

The Foreign Employment Ministry said that a number of jobs in the construction sector, which were only open to Philippine and Bangladeshi nationals for some time, are to be opened to Sri Lankan skilled workers with the new agreement.

During discussions, the Saudi Arabian Minister of Human Resources and Social Development agreed to appoint two bilateral committees to coordinate the work related to the recruitment of Sri Lankans for employment opportunities in the construction and health sectors in Saudi Arabia.

He had also agreed to appoint a consultative committee to make recommendations within 30 days with regard to alleviating the existing irregularities in the recruitment of Sri Lankan domestic workers.

The Saudi minister had also agreed to further increase the minimum wage currently paid to Sri Lankan workers. The recommendations in this regard are to be presented within thirty days as well. It had also been agreed to give more priority to those who have expertise in the sectors that have a surplus of employees in Sri Lanka when recruiting for jobs in Saudi Arabia.

The ministry said that attention was also drawn to the fact that the employment contracts are only in Arabic and English currently. Thereby, both parties agreed to look into the problems faced by domestic workers and take relevant actions within 30 days.

It had also been decided to look into the issues that have arisen with regard to the recruitment fees and related costs, of domestic workers. Also, it was decided to close down about 400 employment agencies that have committed wrongdoings, the ministry added.

Diplomatic representatives from Saudi Arabia and officials of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Saudi Arabia had also participated in the discussions.