In July, the Federal Employment Agency and the “Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Board” of the Republic of Indonesia signed the first placement agreement after the German Skilled Workers Immigration Act. This laid the foundations for the recruitment and placement of Indonesian nurses by the Federal Employment Agency. Because of the pandemic, the signing took place virtually. In a face-to-face meeting today, the Indonesian ambassador, Arif Havas Oegroseno, and Daniel Terzenbach, Director, Regions of the Federal Employment Agency discussed further steps to implement and deepen the cooperation in the area of economic migration.

Amongst other things, placement agreements allow the skilled workers from the partner countries to not start the accreditation procedure for their foreign professional qualifications until after they have entered Germany. Normally, an accreditation certificate must be presented before the visa is granted. Therefore, placement agreements enable the required skilled workers to enter the country more quickly. The “Triple Win” programme for foreign nurses implemented in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH also accompanies them through the entire language learning and visa process, as well as supporting them with their integration in Germany.

“The successful start to the cooperation and the fast, efficient negotiations in the context of the placement agreement are mainly due to the great support from the Indonesian embassy and the personal commitment of the ambassador. The course has been set for an initial recruitment in November 2021, provided that the pandemic situation allows this. The placement agreement with the Republic of Indonesia is another important step towards securing skilled workers. There is not only a shortage of nurses in Germany. Therefore, gradually extending the cooperation to other appropriate occupations is a priority for us,” said Daniel Terzenbach.

Mr Arif Havas Oegroseno welcomed the start of the recruitment processes for Indonesian nurses by the Federal Employment Agency. In his opinion, the next step should be to check the possibilities of placement for other occupations too. With more than 180 million people of employable age, widespread educational institutions and enough German language schools, Indonesia is the right partner for Germany, said Mr Oegroseno in a face-to-face meeting with Daniel Terzenbach.