Muhammadi, Chairman of the National Committee for Recruitment, has revealed that negotiations are being held with African and East Asian countries with a view to recruiting domestic workers. The African countries have been identified as Eritrea, Kenya and the Ivory Coast, while negotiations with the East Asian countries are still in their initial stages. Al-Muhammadi said the negotiations come out of a desire to diversify sources of recruitment. He said that a tour of the countries in question would be carried out in April in which the details of agreements would be finalized. “Agreements with these countries will be through a unified contract on a par with the countries which we currently recruit from,” Al-Muhammadi said. “Recruitment is no longer restricted to certain countries,” he said, “especially following the start of recruitment from Vietnam and Ethiopia.” “We expect a high rise in demand for domestic workers from Vietnam and an increase in the tempo of recruitment following the opening of a Saudi embassy in Hanoi,” Al-Muhammadi said. Previous arrangements were conducted by the Saudi Embassy in Bangkok, with Vietnamese workers also having to arrive via the Thai capital. Ethiopian domestic workers have already started arriving in the Kingdom. Their numbers are expected to increase in the next few months with the conclusion of contracts with Addis Ababa. Agreements with the Ethiopian authorities stipulate a unified contract. Al-Muhammadi declined to comment on statements to the press by the Indonesian Consul General that the unified contract is in breach of his nation's constitution, and he refused to confirm or deny that the committee would go ahead in implementing the unified contract at the specified time.
