No Timorese woman works abroad

DILI, East Timor: Local women are more interested in becoming civil servants than seeking employment overseas largely because they lack the necessary skills, a local official said yesterday.

Head of the provincial manpower office, Anton Setyono, told Antara that there are no companies offering vocational training for local women who want to work overseas.

Setyono said this problem is partly responsible for the high unemployment rate in the former Portuguese colony which became part of Indonesia in 1976.

He did add, however, that there were eight women working as flight attendants on Indonesian airlines with international routes.(sim)