East Timor exports workers

DILI, East Timor: The local Manpower Office plans to send 500 people to other provinces next month, according to an official.

They will be sent to eight provinces: Riau, South Sumatra, Lampung, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi and Maluku, Yosef Susanto, head of the manpower office, told Antara

"They will be employed at some 100 big and small corporations," he said, adding that the plan would be carried out immediately and completed by the end of August.

East Timor, Indonesia's youngest province, has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

Susanto said there are now 18,000 East Timorese registered as unemployed. The East Timorese work force increases by around 4,000 people each year. (07)