Taiwan will not be affected by Indonesian measures to prohibit domestic helpers from going abroad to work from next year, a Taiwanese lawmaker cited Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla as saying on Tuesday.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) said that at a recent meeting in Indonesia with a delegation of DPP lawmakers, Kalla said that Indonesia’s ban on domestic helpers working overseas is targeted at countries in the Middle East, and would not affect Taiwan.
The Indonesian government earlier this year said that it would prohibit domestic helpers from working abroad from next year, with the goal of a complete ban by 2019.
According to Ministry of Labor statistics, there are more than 230,000 Indonesian workers in Taiwan, 170,000 of whom are caregivers, accounting for 78 percent of all the foreign caregivers in the nation.
In addition to labor issues, Chen said the delegation also discussed President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) “new southbound policy” with Kalla, and the Indonesian vice president expressed hope that Taiwanese businesses would expand their investments in Indonesia.
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