The Hong Kong government is set to speed up the hiring process for domestic workers from Cambodia and Myanmar, with the expectation that maids from both countries could begin arriving by the end of this year.
Law Chi-kwong, secretary for labor and welfare, will pay an official visit to Cambodia this month to discuss the employment of Cambodian maids in Hong Kong, Sing Tao Daily reported.
Ng Shu-kit, chairman of the Hong Kong Union of Employment Agencies, expects that as a result of Law’s visit, the hiring process could be accelerated, as the Cambodian government had earlier chosen around 10 employment agencies to act as intermediaries between Cambodian maids and Hong Kong families.
Earlier media reports said an initial group of 1,000 Cambodian maids could arrive in Hong Kong in December, three months later than the schedule that had been announced in April.
Meanwhile, the Myanmar government may relaunch a recruitment scheme that has been suspended for years.
A group of 19 staff of employment agencies in Myanmar and nine Hong Kong foreign-domestic-worker associations signed a memorandum of understanding two weeks ago, under which they will start training Myanmar maids in the coming two months, Ng said, adding that the first batch of maids could arrive in Hong Kong by the end of this year.
Ng hopes Hong Kong government officials could also pay a visit to Myanmar to speed up the hiring process.