On February 3, 2020, a delegation from the Department of Employment (DOE), Ministry of Labour, Government of Thailand visited JITCO, and a new Record of Discussions (R/D) was signed between the Government of Thailand and JITCO on the basis of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) on the Technical Intern Training Program and Specified Skilled Workers concluded between the Thai government and the Japanese government. The aim of the new R/D is to build a collaborative relationship that will help promote and facilitate the sending and receiving of technical intern trainees and specified skilled workers.

JITCO believes that the signing of this new R/D will contribute towards the provision of information to all stakeholders involved with the sending and receiving of technical intern trainees and specified skilled workers regarding accredited sending organizations and sending procedures in Thailand, as well as support for the matching of supervising organizations and sending organizations, etc.

During the consultations that were held between JITCO and the DOE on the same day, Mr. Suchat Pornchaiwiseskul, Director-General of the DOE, noted that, thanks to the DOE’s longstanding collaborative partnership with JITCO, various problems relating to the sending and receiving of technical intern trainees from Thailand have been successfully resolved. He also explained that, regarding specified skilled workers, Thai nationals scheduled to enter Japan for the first time as specified skilled workers without having previously spent time in Japan as technical intern trainees would do so via accredited sending organizations, and that it would be possible for persons who have completed their second year in Japan as technical intern trainees to sign contracts directly with individual business enterprises in Japan.

On the following day, February 4, a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) on Specified Skilled Workers was signed between the Government of Japan and the Government of Thailand. This MOC aims to eliminate unscrupulous brokers who require the payment of deposits and assign breach-of-contract penalties, and to ensure the smooth implementation of the sending and receiving of specified skilled workers; it also stipulates that, in the case where persons who have completed their second year as a technical intern trainee in Japan wish to change their visa status to that of first-year specified skilled worker, the contract of employment must be certified by the Labor Affairs Office of the Thai Embassy in Tokyo.

The text of the Memorandum of Consultation on Specified Skilled Workers signed between the Japanese government and the Thai government can be found on the Ministry of Justice website here (Japanese language only).
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release can be found here (Japanese language only).

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  Consultations in progress

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  The R/D signing ceremony