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SLT empowers Foreign Employment Bureau to help migrant
workers
Sri Lanka Telecom, the nation’s only total integrated communication
service provider has signed an agreement with the Sri Lanka Bureau
of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) to design, implement and manage a
state of the art communication solution to enhance the activities
of the bureau.
The foreign employment industry is the second largest earner of
foreign exchange in the Sri Lanka economy. Private remittances for
the year 2005 are Rs 191,800 mn, with migrant workers from the Middle
East remitting Rs 108,900 mn in 2005. A total number of departures
for foreign employment in 2005 was 230,963 with 93,965 being male
and 136,998 female. Approximately 95% of employees working abroad
were in the Middle Eastern countries.
SLBFE Chairman Kingsley Ranawaka expressing his views on this agreement
said: “Our aim is to cut down costs and this solution helps
us to do so. I greatly appreciate the package SLT has given the
SLBFE, as we can now use the revenue we save for the betterment
of the migrant workers”.
This agreement was signed in order to provide a total voice communication
solution comprising of a state-of-the-art PABX infrastructure and
inter-branch communication system. As a result of this enhancement,
SLBFE will enjoy the facility of seamless connectivity for communication
between the head office and its island wide branch network. Broadband
internet and inter branch data communication via SLT’s IP/VPN
solution, which is capable of carrying voice and mission critical
data securely and reliably is already in place as the backbone infrastructure
of SLBFE.
In addition to the direct cost savings, the solution engineered
by SLT will help make operations smoother by providing instant access
to SLBFE offices and relevant ministries such as the Ministry of
Foreign Employment Promotion, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department
of Immigration and Emigration, embassies, foreign missions and international
organisations such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO)
and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
SLT Chief Marketing Officer Priyantha Perera said: “We are
proud to provide the Foreign Employment Bureau with an advanced
communication solution, further enhancing their ability to network
with other relevant contact points. It also serves as a cost effective
measure as the solution is of minimal cost. We are in a position
to further enhance the capabilities of the Foreign Employment Bureau
by providing additional services such as data centre and disaster
recovery and we are committed to make this partnership go from strength
to strength.”
With this agreement coming into effect, the Foreign Employment Bureau
has enhanced the services they offer, making it faster and more
convenient for stakeholders to interact with the SLBFE, immaterial
of whether they are in Sri Lanka or overseas. An online job bank,
online information database, and online registrations are some of
the new services SLBFE will now offer the general public via the
electronic medium.
SLT will ensure that the SLBFE is always at the cutting edge of
technology, which is flexible as well as scalable, enabling them
to meet their changing needs. Moreover the reliability, high quality
of service and customised solutions engineered by SLT will support
the SLBFE as they continue their invaluable service to the nation.
The company is proud to serve the Foreign Bureau, through the provision
of a comprehensive communication solution, helping them to serve
Sri Lankan’s who work abroad along with their families and
loved one’s. It is also facilitating the Foreign Bureau to
serve efficient and effective service to the betterment of the migrant
workers who bring largest amount of foreign exchange to the country.
The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) operates under
the purview of the Ministry of Foreign Employment Promotion and
Welfare. The ministry promotes the employment of Sri Lankan’s
outside the country, regulates the operations of licensed foreign
employment agents and recruitment agencies while also ensuring the
protection and welfare of Sri Lankan’s employed abroad and
their families.
Sri Lanka Telecom (www.slt.lk) is one of the country’s most
valuable blue chip companies with an annual turnover in excess of
Rs40 bn. The SLT group has a customer base of over two million including
multinational corporations, large and small corporate, retail and
domestic customers.
Today
with NTT Communications of Japan as a strategic partner, SLT provides
facilities and services such as: voice, data, video and mobile to
its customers, which are unmatched in scope. These services range
from domestic and international voice, advanced data transmission
services which include internet services on leased lines, broadband
[on ADSL] and dial up, data circuits, frame relay solutions to IP
services such as IP-VPN based on IP-MPLS technology, total corporate
solutions of multiple services, satellite uplink services and mobile
telephony through the fully owned subsidiary Mobitel.
SLT is in the process of introducing the necessary infrastructure
in the form of NGN (Next Generation Networks) using optical fibre
backbone and broadband services such as IMS and IPTV. SLT also provides
high speed global connectivity to countries in the South Asian region
through its investments in international submarine cables such as
SMW3, SMW4 and the Bharat Lanka submarine cable (between India and
Sri Lanka) and the Dhirragu-SLT submarine cable system between the
Maldive Islands and Sri Lanka. Newly incorporated SLT Hong Kong
Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of Sri Lanka Telecom is fully geared
to provide services such as IP transit, IPVPN, IPLC and international
voice traffic transit services to global telecom operators and corporates
in Hong Kong.
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