By Hanthar Hein - Feb 26, 2025
The Ministry of Labour under the military junta has announced that it is working on signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Russia to facilitate the deployment of Myanmar workers to the country.
A coordination meeting was held on February 24 to discuss the signing of the MOU for sending workers to Russia, as well as employment contracts and related matters.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Minister for Labour U Win Shein, permanent secretaries, directors-general, relevant officials, representatives from the Myanmar Overseas Employment Agencies Federation (MOEAA), licensed overseas employment agencies, and officials from ARA Academy, a Russian language training school.
"A recent restriction limiting overseas employment for men aged 18 to 35 has made it difficult to recruit workers, and agencies are now reconsidering whether to accept job offers. We don’t yet know how Russia’s ministry and its associated agencies will proceed. Most of the jobs available are in agriculture and construction, which means male workers will be in higher demand. But we don’t know how things will work out with the current age restriction. Many agencies are not particularly interested in sending workers to Russia," said a representative from a licensed employment agency.
Employers will cover all recruitment costs under a Zero Cost system under the arrangement for sending workers to Russia. Some workers have already attended Russian language training courses in preparation for employment there although most workers preparing to go abroad are not particularly interested in working in Russia.
