Members of the public can now seek employment overseas with the assistance of the Fijian Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations, and Employment following the launch of the Foreign Employment Services (FORES) earlier this month, reports the Fiji Times.

Through FORES, members of the public can now be confident their employment contracts in international countries are safeguarded.

Established under the National Employment Centre Decree 2009, FORES was the Government’s response to the ILO’s Global Job Pact that was endorsed at the International Labour Conference in 2009. Member nations’ tripartite constituents of the ILO committed to put in place global, regional, and national employment creation strategies to counter the growing unemployment.

The service was launched by Minister for Labour Jone Usamate, who commented: "The primary goal of the Foreign Employment Service is to provide quality human resource development service to unemployed persons and retirees to facilitate their absorption into decent overseas employment and alleviate poverty in Fiji.”

"In this manner our people can also acquire new skills and experiences that will add more value to their lives and families and contribute to national productivity," he added.

Mr Usamate said that FORES would provide quality services that included aptitude assessment, counselling sessions, life skills training, employment skills training, and pre-departure orientation skills training.