India-Germany Pact To Boost Skilled Worker Immigration

19 Apr 2013

German will be promoted as a foreign language in India following a bilateral pact aimed at improving mutual trust and intercultural relations.

India and Germany have agreed to promote German as a foreign language in India, which could help boost the number of IT workers exported to Europe's biggest economy.

Last week, the Indian government released a statement saying the Ministry of Human Resource Development and Germany's Federal Foreign Office would introduce Bachelor of Education programmes for the German language.

Scholarships will also be awarded for Masters degrees and short stays in Germany to boost trust and intercultural relations, according to the list of documents signed during the official visit of Prime Minister to Germany for the 2nd India-Germany Intergovernmental Consultations.

 In a statement to ZDNet, OECD International Migration Division analyst Jonathan Chaloff said the broad agreement would have positive impact for India's education export industry.

 "Clearly language education is important, and fits with the German objective of putting itself on the Indian map as a destination for high-skilled workers," said Chaloff.

 "What you see is an interest in Germany in improving relations with the university-educated Indians," he added.

 This relationship would extend beyond technology, such as in recruiting electronic, mechanical and automotive engineering, according to the OECD analyst.

 In February, the OECD published a report, co-authored by Chaloff, which found Indians only represented three percent of international students in Germany, less than the equivalent OECD averages for Indians (seven percent) in 2010.

 International education is a key part of the supply chain to import foreign workers, the report said.

 "New provisions for foreign graduates of the dual system lay the groundwork for bilateral agreements to attract and retain apprentices," the report stated.

 It added a new framework for recognition of qualifications creates opportunities for identifying vital medium-level skills abroad.

 In 2011, India exported the highest number of highly-skilled immigrants to Germany--the fifth largest export destination in the world.  India, the world's largest IT skills exporter, satisfies 80 percent of the European country's tech requirements. In 2011, Germany rejected just two percent of applications from Bangalore, according to ANI.

 The "Make it in Germany" campaign aims to attract foreign workers to fill gaps in the country's engineering and manufacturing sectors.

 In the first half of 2012, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Economics and Technology, established a dual-language Web site (www.make-it-in-germany.com) to inform migrants on all aspects of life and employment. This includes:

A "quick check" feature verifying whether applicants are in-principle eligible to come to Germany.

It can also convert foreign degrees into the German system.

In future, certain job openings posted via the Federal Employment Agency will be published on the Web site.

Source: http://www.zdnet.com/in/india-germany-pact-to-boost-skilled-worker-immigration-7000013987/