Dubai: In an attempt to deal with the menace of unauthorised placement agencies, Andhra Pradesh has started an overseas recruitment agency to provide recruitment services to foreign companies.

Overseas Manpower Company AP Ltd (OMCAP) has been set up to provide recruitment service to businesses and industries in the Middle East, the US, Canada and India through a pool of workers, Satish Chandra, commissioner of labour, employment and training, government of Andhra Pradesh has said here.

Chandra, who is also the managing director of OMCAP visited Oman and the UAE recently and met top representatives of various companies to highlight the benefits of recruiting through the agency.

Besides grooming candidates in job-related skills, OMCAP also provides training in language and occupational competencies to people looking to take up jobs in foreign countries, Times of Oman quoted Chandra as saying.

"Hard skills are part of a job requirement but we in OMCAP also impart training in soft skills like work attitude, work culture and the basic philosophy of life", Chandra said.

Andhra Pradesh is a major source of labour for the gulf countries, with more than 60,000 people from the state working in Oman. A majority of them are employed in construction and allied industries.

"We have a target to train around 50,000 candidates in 2008", he added.
Source : PTI