Sri Lanka’s Minister of Labor and Foreign Employment on Wednesday said the number of Sri Lankan workers departing for South Korea this year has surpassed 5,000.
Manusha Nanayakkara said the figure had increased by 44 per cent compared to the previous year.
Nanayakkara said on social media that the figure showed the country’s commitment to enhancing employment prospects.
During a discussion with Nanayakkara in April, the director of the South Korean human resources department based in Sri Lanka agreed to provide 8,000 job opportunities for Sri Lankans in South Korea this year.
He added that the number exceeded the job quota of 6,500 offered earlier, local media reported.
Sri Lankan workers’ remittance in August surpassed 499 million U.S. dollars, and the cumulative figure for the January to August period was around 3.9 billion dollars.
According to official data, the figure is a 74.4 percent increase compared with the same period in 2022.
However, workers’ remittance is one of the main sources of foreign revenues for Sri Lanka.