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.