The Hon. Vijitha Herath - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism

¶ 01 (a) (i) Year-by-year details (source: Central Bank of Sri Lanka): - 2020: 53,698 workers; USD 7,103.9 million remitted; 8.65% of GNP - 2021: 122,905; USD 5,491.0 million; 6.34% - 2022: 310,948; USD 3,789.4 million; 5.05% - 2023: 297,585; USD 5,969.6 million; 7.35% - 2024: 314,676; USD 6,575.4 million; 6.81% - 2025 (up to Aug. 31): 204,733; USD 5,116.0 million; percentage not available Total: 1,304,545 workers

¶ 02 (The calculation of the percentage of Gross National Product/Income is based on Central Bank reports. Reports for 2025 have not yet been submitted.)

¶ 03 (ii) Highest demand (by registered job orders of the Bureau): Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Japan, Oman, Romania, Cyprus, Bahrain and Malaysia. However, the countries most preferred by Sri Lankan workers are Israel, South Korea, Japan and Romania.

¶ 04 (iii) Government programme: 1. Agreements/MoUs with South Korea and Israel to secure employment opportunities for Sri Lankans. 2. Two cooperation agreements with Japan (TITP and SSWP). Under these, workers are sent to Japan through government intervention and the private sector. Japanese language courses have been introduced, and private institutions offering such courses are encouraged and registered with the Bureau. 3. A social security agreement with Romania is under discussion. 4. MoUs with public and private sectors to provide pre-departure training courses. 5. Job fairs at provincial and divisional levels with local employment agencies. 6. Dissemination of information on foreign job opportunities via social media. 7. Public access to vacancy information via Job Bank. 8. Annual figures since 2020 for high-demand countries are provided in the Annex.

¶ 05 (iv) See Annex.

¶ 06 (v) Labour markets offering greater benefits: South Korea, Israel and Japan (higher wages with minimal labour issues).

¶ 07 (vi) Steps to deploy highly skilled workers:

¶ 08 Israel: - Transparent application opportunities nationwide for qualified applicants. - Skill tests, pre-practical and final practical tests by Government and recognized private institutions to select most suitable candidates. - Sector-specific and pre-departure training for selected workers. Example: For construction jobs, the National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority conducts pre-skill tests; final practical selection is by Israeli national representatives.

¶ 09 Japan: - Under the IM Japan MoU: send technical interns and specified-skilled workers. - Residential training including Japanese language (4 months for interns; 3 months for specified-skilled workers). - Monthly newspaper notices on skills test dates for the specified-skilled worker programme. - Licensed private foreign employment agencies are also permitted to send workers to Japan. - Additional measures: 1. Start and conduct Japanese language courses at District Offices and Training Centres of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (for JLPT N4 and N5). 2. Distribute pamphlets on Japanese language courses. 3. Reimburse 75% of course fees to those who pass and depart for employment. 4. Conduct awareness at examination centres.

¶ 10 South Korea: - Under the 2004 MoU: deploy under EPS (E-9 visa) to manufacturing, fisheries, services, agriculture, construction and shipbuilding. - Steps: 1. Call applications nationwide for the Korean Language Test (KLT) with maximum transparency. 2. Conduct the KLT under full supervision of the Human Resources Development Service of Korea (HRDK). 3. Those who pass the language test face a two-tier skills assessment: verification of certificates (qualification test) and assessment of physical/psychological aptitude (skills test). 4. Successful candidates face interviews; obtain police clearance; confirm medical fitness. 5. Upload candidate data to the HRDK’s Public Agency System. 6. After issuance of employment contracts via that system, provide pre-departure training: - For manufacturing, services, construction, agriculture and shipbuilding: 10-day residential training on culture, workplace environment and labour laws. - For fisheries: 5-day residential training as above plus 5 days of practical training in fisheries.

¶ 11 (b) Not applicable.