A delegation from the Mongolian government will arrive in Taiwan Monday for a week-long visit to discuss Taiwan's plans to recruit workers from that country, the Labor Affairs Council announced yesterday.
"Four representatives from the Mongolian government, including Mr. D. Jantsan, head of its Employment and Vocational Training Administration, are coming to discuss technical issues surrounding the possibility of Mongolian workers taking employment in Taiwan," said Liao Wei-jen (廖為仁), an official with the council's Employment and Vocational Training Administration.
Taiwan and Mongolia began discussing the possibility of importing Mongolian workers in July, when council chairperson Chen Chu (陳菊) and Director-General of the Employment and Vocational Training Administration Kuo Fang-yu (郭芳煜), were invited to attend Mongolia's independence day celebration.
During that visit the two sides agreed in principle that steps should be taken to recruit Mongolian workers to Taiwan, but the delegation emphasized mechanisms for health and security control would have to be established before recruitment could begin.
Liao said the four representatives will visit the National Police Administration and the Department of Health to discuss these mechanisms.
Health officials said that the Mongolian government would be required to submit a list of hospitals capable of providing reliable medical reports on potential recruits.
The National Police Administration is already working with Mongolian authorities to establish a system to verify if potential recruits have a criminal record. Foreigners who have police records in their home countries may not work in Taiwan.
Liao said that the council was optimistic that the necessary systems would be in place "within the year," so that recruitment of Mongolians could begin.
The Mongolian delegation will also visit some foreign workers who are currently employed in Taiwan in order to assess the work and living conditions of migrant workers.
Liao said no agreement had been reached yet on whether Mongolian workers would be recruited by brokers, the government or prospective employers.
The council has emphasized that recruitment of Mongolian workers was intended to increase the number of sources for foreign workers, not to increase the numbers of such workers.
Foreign workers are currently recruited from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. Officials say the number of foreign workers in Taiwan will continue to be limited to about 300,000.
Taiwan and Mongolia do not enjoy formal diplomatic ties but have conducted bilateral exchanges in the past few months.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced last month that it had established a representative office in the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator, with consular and visa-issuing functions.
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