KUALA LUMPUR - Indonesia and Japan’s Kagawa Prefecture agreed to place about 2,000 Indonesian migrant workers under a new labour cooperation memorandum, last Friday. 

Minister of Migrant Workers Protection (KP2MI) Mukhtarudin said the memorandum was signed with Kagawa Governor Toyohito Ikeda on January 23 and covers the manufacturing, hospitality, construction, and caregiving sectors.

Under the agreement, Indonesia will send around 2,000 workers who have completed Japanese language and technical skills training for a one-year placement, while Kagawa will prepare job sites and employers, Mukhtarudin said.

“Kagawa has prepared the facilities, and several companies will serve as employers. We have discussed technical matters, including language and skills training,” he told a press conference in Jakarta.

The programme will begin with language and technical training before deployment and is expected to serve as a pilot for other regions in Japan.

Ikeda said Kagawa currently hosts about 4,000 Indonesian workers and pledged full support for Japanese language education.

The ministry added that the agreement includes Japanese language and workplace culture training, skills certification exams, job promotion, teaching support, textbooks, and dedicated funding.