Libya needs 16,000 OFWs

Iceland asked to ease forex policies

MANILA, Philippines—The North African country of Libya is poised to be a strong market for skilled overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) this year as it is in need of more than 16,000 migrant workers, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said over the weekend.

In Iceland, the Philippines has asked the government to lift its restrictive remittance and foreign exchange policies in order to enable Filipino workers to send more money to their families back home.

Citing a report from Philippine labor officials in Tripoli, Roque said oil-rich Libya had been left relatively unscathed by the global financial crisis—unlike major OFWs destinations like Dubai and Taiwan—and was experiencing a construction boom.

“The employment prospects in Libya and nearby nations are favorable for OFWs as they continue to be the preferred choice among foreign employers,” Roque said.

Job opportunities also abound in the hotel, oil and gas, and health sectors, as well as construction industry in Libya’s neighbors like Algeria, Chad, Malta and Morocco, he said.

“Korean firms like Daewoo, Hyundai and Al Nahr are currently recruiting thousands of OFWs for their development and construction projects in Libya,” Roque said.

Talks are also underway to allow Filipino health workers to work in Libyan hospitals, he said.

Libyan labor officials had asked their health ministry to allow around 4,000 Filipino medical workers to come in for the Tripoli and Benghazi medical centers and other hospitals and clinics in the country, Roque said.

Philippine Ambassador to Oslo Elizabeth P. Buensuceso, meanwhile, in her capacity as concurrent ambassador to Iceland, voiced concerns over the foreign exchange restrictions when she presented her credentials to Icelandic President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson on April 28.

She suggested as a possible alternative allowing for a specific period of time for currency exchanges or remittances up to maximum amounts of $300-$500.

Buensuceso stressed the remittances of Filipinos working in Iceland “are not meant for savings but for basic and life or death needs of their families in the Philippines.”

Quoting a dispatch from the embassy, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Icelandic officials assured the ambassador they would convey her request to the Central Bank of Iceland.

In Belgium, Filipinos living there who have a valid Philippine driver’s license may exchange it for a Belgian license without having to take the written and practical tests, the DFA said Saturday.

Quoting a report from the Philippine embassy in Brussels, the DFA said the exemption was the result of an administrative arrangement between the embassy and the Belgian Federal Public Service, Mobility and Transport, an initiative the embassy began working on eight years ago. –Kristine L. Alave, Cynthia Balana, Philippine Daily Inquirer