The main concern for allowing Indian migrant workers to fill agricultural labor shortages in Taiwan is the language barrier, that’s according to Agriculture Minister Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) at the Legislature’s Economics Committee on Wednesday.
The Labor Ministry is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with India allowing Indian migrant workers to work in Taiwan by the end of this year. However, when asked whether the Agriculture Ministry would apply for Indian migrant workers to work in agriculture, Chen said that this issue needs more consideration, as there are concerns about language difficulties.
Chen says that the total number of places open for agricultural migrant workers is 12,000, and the Agriculture Ministry has filled more than 5,000, so around 7,000 spots remain. He says that looking at past experience, migrant workers from Indonesia have been able to pick up the Mandarin language easily but that this may be different for migrant workers from other countries and they may have difficulty communicating.
Chen says the Agriculture Ministry will continue to cooperate with the Labor Ministry on the matter.