Chamber of Commerce to issue work permits on behalf of govt
THE Labour and Social Security Ministry and the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce (KTTO) have signed a “cooperation protocol” enabling the KTTO to issue work permits for the employment of foreign nationals.
Labour and Social Security Minister Hasan Taçoy and KTTO chairman Turgay Deniz signed the protocol.
Under the deal, the KTTO will handle preliminary work permit procedures, new work permit applications and work permit extension applications on behalf of employers that are members of the KTTO, and then submit the paperwork to the relevant government departments. The KTTO will also “monitor and finalise the process”.
In exchange, KTTO member firms hiring foreign workers will be exempt from the standard requirement to have large sums of their money “frozen” in the form of a bank “Letter of Guarantee” for each foreign national employee.
The agreement also envisages the formation of a “joint committee” between the Labour and Social Security Ministry and the KTTO to “execute and implement” the cooperation protocol and prepare and communicate “the necessary forms and documents” to KTTO members.
A joint statement from the ministry and the KTTO said that the cooperation protocol aims to “prevent undocumented labour in general and the employment of undocumented foreign workers in particular, to regulate and control the labour market and to eliminate unfair competition”.
As part of the deal the KTTO will also provide financial support for the “realisation of a Vocational High School/Prep School project to increase employability and prevent unemployment in the TRNC”.