Thailand has approved plans to recruit workers from Sri Lanka to address labour shortages, with an initial target of 10,000 workers following a bilateral labour agreement signed earlier this year.

Julapun Amornvivat, the labour minister, said on Friday (6 November) that the Foreign Workers Management Policy Committee had approved the recruitment of Sri Lankan workers under an existing memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two countries.

The move is intended to provide Thai employers with an additional source of migrant labour as businesses in several sectors continue to face workforce shortages.

Julapun said the government was seeking to expand recruitment options to ensure that businesses could maintain operations without disruptions caused by labour shortages.

Sri Lanka is among the first countries identified as an additional source of workers, with an initial recruitment target of 10,000 people.

The decision follows cabinet approval on 8 September of an MOU on labour cooperation between Thailand and Sri Lanka, along with an agreement governing the employment of Sri Lankan workers in Thailand.

The agreements establish procedures covering worker recruitment, employment contracts, medical examinations and repatriation to their country of origin.

They also include measures aimed at preventing illegal labour recruitment and human trafficking.

The initiative comes amid continued demand for workers in certain sectors of Thailand’s economy, with industrial operators and employers urging the government to address labour shortages.

The government has consequently sought to establish additional channels for recruiting foreign workers through legal employment arrangements.

The approval marks another step in Thailand’s efforts to diversify its migrant labour sources while bringing foreign workers into the formal employment system.

-Agencies