The Legislature’s Health and Environment, Foreign Affairs, and Defense committees all jointly reviewed Taiwan’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Indian migrant workers on Monday. When questioned, Labor Minister Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) said the first batch of workers won’t exceed 1000 people.
According to the MOU signed with New Delhi earlier this year, both parties agreed to promote a direct hiring program in addition to current recruitment channels. When concerned legislators asked how direct hiring would be done, Ho admitted that, as India does not have such a system in place, there is room for procedure development. She added that more options need to be explored by both parties, such as if Taiwan would follow in South Korea’s footsteps of establishing direct hiring offices in countries where migrant workers are sourced.
DPP Legislator Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) brought up the past failures of direct hiring systems, citing the problems recruiting Thai migrant workers. He asked that the ministry learn from past experiences as well as foreign cases, further requesting a review and evaluation report. Ho acceded, saying it would be done in two months.