Labor Minister Hsu Ming-chun says that Taiwan is looking for new sources of migrant workers. That’s as Indonesia moves to introduce a policy that would make it more expensive to bring in its nationals as migrant workers.
The new policy will shift the cost of Indonesian migrant workers’ plane tickets, visas, and other fees, onto foreign employers. This could have a significant impact in Taiwan, where close to 80% of domestic caregivers come from Indonesia.
On Wednesday, the labor minister told members of the Legislature’s social welfare committee that Taiwan has begun exploring alternative sources of labor. The focus is on countries that fall within the scope of the New Southbound Policy, a policy that seeks closer ties with South and Southeast Asia.
The labor minister said that two rounds of talks have already taken place with countries interested in sending their migrant workers to Taiwan. The hope is that Taiwan will sign memoranda of understanding with these countries next year, and begin accepting migrant workers from these countries as soon as 2022.
The labor minister declined to name which countries had expressed interest in a deal to send migrant workers to Taiwan.