Foreign earnings target US 4 b
Foreign remittances to Sri Lanka increased by 11 percent to US $ 1820 million in the second quarter of the year. This was at US $ 1602 in the corresponding period last year.
Foreign remittances are Sri Lanka's number one foreign exchange earner and the government hopes to achieve a record US $ 4 billion target this year. This was at US 3.3 billion last year.
Despite the global economic downturn last year, Sri Lanka recorded a sharp 15 percent increase in foreign employment, an official from Foreign Employment Bureau said. A record number of 134,670 Sri Lankan employees went overseas in the first six months of this year which is a 17,669 increase as against the first six months of the previous year.
Sri Lanka had provided the highest number of employees to Qatar which shows a 54 percent increase.
Lankan employees to South Korea have increased by 43 percent, Kuwait 18 percent and UAE 11 percent. Over 2,000 Sri Lankans ventured to South Korea in the first six months of this year and under new agreements the Bureau expects this number to increase by 12 percent.
Sri Lanka also expects a high quota of employment opportunities from Malaysia, Libya and Bahrain. - SS
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