The Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Dr Rashid Pelpuo, has revealed that the government is working on a strategy to export Ghanaian labour to countries in need of skilled workers as part of efforts to reduce unemployment in the country.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Dr Pelpuo said Ghana is receiving increasing requests for its labour force from countries across the globe.
“Beyond the domestic set, what we can do to tackle unemployment is to look at how we can export Ghanaian labour to other countries that need us,” he said.
He noted that countries in Europe, Canada, the Gulf, and even parts of Africa have expressed interest in Ghanaian workers.
“There have been consistent requests for Ghanaian labour all over the world. Quite recently, I received the Ambassador of Barbados to Ghana, and the request she made was for Ghanaian nurses.”
Dr Pelpuo said the demand for Ghanaian workers abroad is a testament to their quality and professionalism.
“The Ghanaian is such a quality person. The singsong is everywhere about the quality of the Ghanaian our capacity to articulate, our ability to professionally present ourselves,” he added.
He explained that it is only logical to explore international job opportunities for unemployed Ghanaians, especially given their reputation abroad.
“If we have all these people with such high regard, and they are unemployed in Ghana, the logical thing is to look elsewhere,” he said.
According to him, his ministry is currently working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to establish bilateral labour agreements with interested countries.
“What I am working on is to get the foreign minister to sign bilateral relations with all the countries needing Ghanaian labour, and I will sign agreements with companies that want to export the labour,” he stated.
The Minister assured that any move to send Ghanaian workers abroad will be done under proper legal and ethical standards to ensure their safety and dignity.
“We’ll make sure they are properly treated, respected, in good health, and paid well according to what they do so they don’t go and get disrespected.”
He also mentioned plans to organise and monitor labour exports more closely.
“We are listing all the countries that need Ghanaian labour. We want to work within a certain level of coordination so we don’t have companies taking people somewhere and nobody knows where they are going,” he said.
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