RI IT ace gets green card

RI IT ace gets green card

NUREMBERG, Germany (AFP): Indonesian computer specialist Harianto Wijaya became the first person Monday to receive a special permit allowing non-European Union nationals to work in Germany because of their sought-after information technology (IT) skills.

He received the authorization from Employment Minister Walter Riester in a ceremony in Nuremberg also attended by the head of the federal labor office, Bernhard Jagoda.

The "green cards" -- so-called after the term for the document allowing foreigners to live and work in the United States -- are an initiative by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder aimed at overcoming a shortage of highly-qualified computer technologists in Germany.

Harianto Wijaya, 25, has won a job with the Aachen-based firm AixCom to develop wireless office communications technology.

The government plans to accord up to 20,000 permits for foreign IT workers.