Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan and Sweden have discussed launching an 18-month pilot project to arrange legal employment for Uzbek citizens in Sweden. Uzbekistan’s Migration Agency reported this.
The talks took place during a working visit to Sweden by an Uzbek delegation. Migration Agency Director M. Abdurakhmonov met with Swedish State Secretary Anders Hall.
The sides reviewed implementation of their bilateral migration agreement, specialist training and arrangements for legal recruitment based on the staffing needs of Swedish companies.
The Swedish side proposed launching the pilot with several occupations for which employers have already confirmed demand. The participants discussed candidate selection procedures, qualification and language requirements, employment conditions and project performance indicators.
Uzbekistan proposed training prospective workers at existing technical colleges. Training is expected to follow programmes and professional standards established by Swedish employers.
Potential areas of cooperation include welding and other technical occupations, automotive manufacturing, vehicle maintenance and agriculture.
The protection of programme participants’ rights was also discussed. Anders Hall supported an approach under which candidates would receive full information before departure about their future employer, salary, job responsibilities, accommodation and the rules governing their stay in Sweden.
According to the participants, providing information in advance should reduce the risks of dishonest intermediaries and discrepancies between promised and actual working conditions.
The sides confirmed their intention to continue preparing the project. Employment quotas, the list of participating companies and the amount of funding have not yet been agreed.
