January 20, 2008	Sunday	Muharram 10, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Jan 19: Caretaker Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Nisar Ghuman said on Saturday that the Overseas Employment Corporation (OEC) would establish a data bank of skilled and semi-skilled workers aspiring for overseas employment.

The data bank would enable the government to respond quickly to the demands of other countries requiring manpower from Pakistan, Mr Ghuman told the state television PTV.

The corporation would collect data on the workers with the help of technical training schools from across the country, he said, adding that the process of registering such schools would also be initiated.

He said the scope of overseas employment for Pakistanis was vast since the country’s manpower was relatively cheaper and better qualified than other countries.

Mr Ghuman said he had asked ambassadors of various countries stationed in Islamabad for giving priority to Pakistani labour.

He said South Korea was in dire need of labour, but the minimum qualification for that country’s visa was matriculation and basic know-how of the Korean language. The OEC, he said, was arranging Korean language courses, he added.

He informed that the initial test of Korean language would be taken by the corporation in March in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar, and names of successful candidates would be forwarded to Korea for conducting a final test.

Malaysia has pledged to import more skilled and semi-skilled workers, including doctors, engineers, teachers and IT engineers, visas for which would be issued by the end of this month and the process would be completed in February, Mr Ghuman said.

He said the visas would be distributed among selected candidates free of cost under the supervision of the Labour Ministry.—APP