Japan opens its doors for skilled labourers

Japanese Government as development partner of Pakistan opened its industrial sector for Pakistani skilled labour against salary packages equal to Japanese employees. In a media talk, Deputy Chief of Mission Embassy of Japan Shindo Yusuke said that the Government of Japan had signed two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with Pakistan for import of labour in two categories: trainee and skilled labour.
The import of labour from foreign countries was initiated for the first time in the history of Japan, he said. Japan's government approved new labour law allowing hundreds of thousands of foreigners into the country to ease labour shortages with effect from April 1, 2019.
In this respect, one MoU was signed in February 2019 and second was signed in December 2019. The Government of Japan will allow Pakistani skilled employees in 14 specified field including care worker, building cleaning management, machine parts and tooling industries, industrial machinery industries, electric, electronics and information industries, construction industry, shipbuilding and ship machinery industry, automobile repair and maintenance, aviation industry, accommodation industry, agriculture, fishery and aquaculture, manufacture of food and beverages, and food service industry.
The deputy chief of mission maintained that the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) and the National University of Technology (NUTECH) will hold recruitment of candidates in collaboration with the Japanese Foundation, he said.
For technical intern training, Pakistani labour should be at least 18 years old with good health condition. The intern can stay in Japan for five years and his stay period may be further extended if he proceeded to the next level of training.
For specified skilled workers, higher level of Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) is required. JLPT will be held on July 5 and December 6 each year at the National University of Modern Languages (NUML) and Japanese Consulate in Karachi. Application for July 5 test of JLPT began on March 9 and ends on March 27.
Responding to a question, he said not a single application was received for the test from Pakistani labour, which was a little disappointing. He stressed that more action was required from the Pakistan side to motivate Pakistani workers to gain the opportunity. Counsellor, Head, Culture and Public Information Section, Ryuji Iwasaki, Embassy of Japan was also present on the occasion.