Sri Lanka seeks more jobs for skilled workers in Qatar

Sri Lanka is seeking more job opportunities in Qatar for skilled workers in different sectors and it would organise an employment promotion event tomorrow.
“Employment Promotion in Qatar”, being organised by Embassy of Sri Lanka in collaboration with Qatar Chamber, will gather 200 private, government, and semi government companies from various sectors, ASP Liyanage, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Qatar told The Peninsula. The event will be held at the Sheraton Grand Doha Resort & Convention Hotel. Also, a 55 member delegation including senior officials from the Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment and representatives of different Sri Lankan recruitment agencies will participate in the event.
The event will seek increase in number of skilled-workers coming here. “It will provide an opportunity to the companies to learn about the manpower which we could cater, and the employment and recruitment agency representatives to know the existing opportunities,” said Liyanage.
Labour migration from Sri Lanka has grown during the last several decades. Sri Lanka has sent abroad some two million workers, nearly 10 percent of its population. Around 120,000 Sri Lankans are employed in Qatar.
LP Dulip Jayawardane, Counsellor Employment and Welfare at Embassy of Sri Lanka in Qatar said, “Although skilled and semi skilled workers coming to Qatar has increased, we have seen a slight drop in companies recruiting Sri Lankans. Therefore, we take the opportunity to attract companies which have hired less Sri Lankans.”  The event is also being held under the guidance and support of Sri Lanka’s Minister for Justice and Foreign Employment Thalatha Athukorala.
According to the country’s Bureau of Foreign Employment, remittance by overseas workers is over $5bn annually of which about 60 percent are from Middle East.