Swedish employers and recruiters expressed interest in hiring specialists from Uzbekistan in healthcare, agriculture and other sectors at a forum in Stockholm on Nov. 13, the Dunyo information agency reported.
The forum, “Uzbekistan-Sweden: Skills, Talent and Labor Migration,” was organized by the Migration Agency with the support of Uzbekistan’s embassy in Sweden.
Representatives of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, the Federation of Farmers, a green employers’ association and recruitment firms said they wanted to take on workers from Uzbekistan.
Labor migration is becoming one of the most important areas of bilateral relations, according to Martin Rosen, Sweden’s ambassador to Uzbekistan.
Representatives of northern areas of Sweden, including those inhabited by the Sami and facing labor shortages, showed particular interest in Uzbek specialists. Because of demand for medical workers, participants discussed taking part in a training program for Uzbek nurses.
Mukhsinkhoja Abdurakhmonov, director of the Migration Agency, briefed participants on Uzbekistan’s workforce potential and on mechanisms for selecting specialists who meet European employers’ requirements.
Azimjon Khusanov, director of the Vocational Education Agency, spoke about organizing joint education programs with Swedish employers and aligning workers’ qualifications with Swedish standards.
Earlier, the migration authorities of the two countries discussed implementing an 18-month pilot program on labor migration. They also considered training specialists at technical colleges in Uzbekistan to meet Swedish companies’ needs and organizing Swedish-language courses.
