Global Expat

More and more Indonesians are studying in the United States and in 2012 their number has reached 7,000, and this number continues to increase every year.

We can’t stop foreign workers from coming to Bali, but the issuance of work permits for Expats should be better controlled. Positions should be as much as possible filled by local workers.

A thorough induction will increase the likelihood of having loyal employees and thus save costs.

More than 4,000 college degree holders remain jobless among the total of 65,000 people counted as unemployed on the island.

7.14 percent of the Indonesian work force is currently unemployed. The government has set itself the target of lowering the unemployment rate to 5.1 percent by 2014.

Bali's future attractiveness, both as a place to live and do business, depends on a system of transparent and impartially enforced development rules.

Despite experience in Asia becoming an essential career step for Westerners, the opportunities to gain such experience seem to be shrinking. Employment in Asian firms is booming and Asian employers increasingly choose to hire locals.

Bali Campus of Stenden University Offers Internationally Accredited BBA Hospitality Management Degrees.

The opportunities for hospitality employees in Asia are countless. Employers should not only provide better packages, they should also continuously offer training and development and provide career advancement possibilities.

The job market is flooded with top talent, however, employers are facing challenges to find the right qualified people for their open positions.

The President of Indonesia urges to create more jobs at home to accommodate migrant workers. At least four million Indonesians are currently working overseas and it is very important that they are protected.

Bali calls on immigration authorities to exercise stricter control on foreign visitors in Bali to reduce the large number of illegal workers on the island.

Bali is vastly over-supplied with hotel rooms with more than enough accommodation on hand to meet projected demand through 2015. The number of rooms has now reached 60,000 units.

Everyone wants to invest in Bali, everyone wants to own accommodation in Bali; but there must be some limitation. The only possible way to stop new project construction is through the imposition of a moratorium.

Five Indonesian students get undergraduate scholarships from Singapore to study at the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University.

More and more countries are expressing interest in hiring Indonesian nurses because of the attentive and caring treatment they provide patients.

The Indonesian Chef winning the The Global Chefs Challenge proves that Indonesia’s chefs are capable of competing against the very best on any culinary stage.

Driven by the global crisis, young foreigners are coming to China to look for jobs. China can be more accessible to job hunters than economies where getting work permits is much harder.

Between 6,000 and 8,000 young Balinese will be sent abroad in 2009 to work on foreign cruise ships. Thousands more will be employed in the international hotel and restaurant industry.

For first quarter of 2009, Bali arrival numbers grew with 8.15% against the same period last year and for the first time Australia replaces Japan as Bali's top source market for foreign visitors.

Canada has opened job opportunities for foreign workers including from Indonesia to work in the fields of health, construction, and hotel industry.

The massive US$600 million project of shopping, recreation areas, golf courses and luxurious hotels on a 1,200 hectare site planned for South Lombok is now in jeopardy.

Young people from Australia and Indonesia will benefit from a new work and holiday visa. The arrangement allows university-educated Australian and Indonesian travelers who are aged between 18 and 30 to work and holiday in each other`s country for up to 12 months.

Hoteliers throughout the world are unanimously expecting declines in business performance for 2009. Although Asian hoteliers hold the most pessimistic outlook for the year, hoteliers in Indonesia expect improvements in room occupancy and average room rates. Bali expects the strong performance levels recorded in 2008 will continue through into 2009.

The Ritz-Carlton will be withdrawing its brand from its very successful 368-key luxury resort at Jimbaran Bay in Bali.

Bali will achieve a record in international tourist arrivals this year and future growth is made possible with the potential resumption of Garuda services to Europe, the proposed expansion of Ngurah Rai Airport and the scheduled opening of a new international airport in Lombok in 2010. With improved development regulations, security and infrastructure, the luxury villa market will enjoy long term growth.

While large sums are being spent on new cruise infrastructure facilities in Bali and elsewhere, visiting vessels are being imposed huge bonds and guarantees that make Indonesia one of the world's least attractive cruise destinations.

Till 2007, despite 2 terrorist attacks, Bali monopolized for six consecutive years the number one spot in the survey as the world’s favorite holiday island. This year Bali slipped to the #2 spot behind Galapagos.

US$543 million deal has been signed with Korean Consortium which will double port size and create 5-Star accommodation complex at Benoa Harbor. Bali's Benoa Port will soon be enlarged to cover an area of 80 hectares by dredging shallow areas of the harbor currently inaccessible to shipping.

A total of 205 Indonesian caregivers and nurses arrived in Japan earlier this month, the first batch of recruits for jobs in Japan. They are set to begin working in January or February 2009 after undergoing six months Japanese-language training.

The movie will chronicle the lives of three Expat families who left their native country to take advantage of the opportunities that the rapidly growing Middle East is bringing.

Labour ministers in the Middle East propose a maximum length of stay of 6 years for expats in any state of The Gulf in order to limit the unemployment among locals and to stop the erosion of local culture.

Sulawesi is preparing 100 local residents to work as nurses at hospitals and elderly homes in Japan. In 2002-2004 the province sent 765 workers to Japan, but from 2005 to 2008, Japan was no longer accepting workers from Sulawesi because they often violated their work contracts. Now the negative Sulawesi image has been repaired and the 100 nurses will be sent to Japan in 2009.

HSBC Bank International Limited revealed that Singapore, the UAE and the US are the best locations to be an expat, according to findings of its Expat Explorer survey, the largest international survey of expats ever conducted.

Japan is in need of 1,000 Indonesian workers, comprising 600 nurses and 400 people taking care of elderly people on contract basis for 3 and 4 years. Potential nurses and caregivers will first have to undergo a series of tests and interviews. And upon arrival in Japan, they will have to follow special trainings to obtain a Japanese national certificate.

Japan is ready to accept nurses and elderly-care workers from Indonesia beginning this July. The Japanese government has long kept immigration to a minimum, but as Japan is the most rapidly ageing country in the world, Tokyo had to rethink its attitude to foreign workers.The Indonesian nurses and care workers will be paid similar salaries to their Japanese colleagues.

A modern and permanent port for foreign cruise ships will be built in the Indonesia`s island resort of Bali. Luxury cruises ships carrying tourists from other countries to Singapore are expected to come to Bali as well after the port is ready.

Indonesia's improving security and growing perception of safety will bring 100 cruise-ship visits to Indonesia in the 2008/2009 season.

The money tranferred by Indonesian workers overseas through Western Union to the post offices in their hometowns West Java had reached more than Rp900 billion.

Foreigners are flooding into the Gulf. Salary levels are similar to those in Western Europe, but with no income tax the net income is much greater. Though lifestyle is great, cultural exchange is not happening as fast as some Westerners expect.

Bali's southern seaport of Benoa is being prioritized for development as an international standard turn-around port for cruise vessels. By 2009 a turn-around port should be in operation, creating an international cruise destination that is equal to Singapore.

Indonesian manpower authorities plan to send up to 500 skilled and semi-skilled workers to Australia this year to be employed in the construction, mining, nursing, education and fruit plantation sectors.

United Arab Emirates and Indonesia have signed an agreement whereby Indonesia will provide labour in fields of health, tourism, hospitality and construction sector to the UAE. The agreement aims at providing regulations for recruitment and placement of the Indonesian manpower to the UAE labour market.

Japan will accept 1000 nurses and health care workers from Indonesia to help ease the country’s shortage. Nurses will be limited to staying for three years and care workers for four years on their Indonesian certificates and licenses. But they can extend their stay by passing Japanese nursing exams or receiving Japanese caregivers certificates. The workers will work as assistants at hospitals and nursing care facilities after receiving language training.