orhneeorh
Banned
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- Jul 10, 2020
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ICTs exempted from Fair Consideration Framework and can bring whole family !!
basically SG has given up its sovereignty to India !!
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https://www.onlinecitizenasia.com/2...-from-jobs-bank-requirement-but-ceca-says-no/
Currently, a job is exempted from the FCF advertising requirement if it will be filled by an ICT. The FCF advertising requirement mandates that companies must advertise positions for Singaporeans on Jobs Bank before they can apply for EP to hire foreigners.
To be exempted, the foreign candidate has to meet the definition of ICTs under the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). WTO GATS defines an ICT as:
Manager, who has authority over day-to-day operations and, to hire and fire personnel;
Executive, who receives only general supervision or direction from management; or
Specialist, who possesses knowledge at an advanced level of expertise.
Additionally, under WTO GATS, an ICT:
Must have worked for the company outside Singapore for a minimum of 1 year
Are limited to a 3-year term but can be extended up to a maximum total of 5 years.
Singapore signs a more generous CECA with India
However, it’s almost impossible for the Singapore government to remove such exemption at least for ICTs coming from India. This is because Singapore has already signed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with India in 2005, which supersedes some of the terms in WTO GATS.
In fact, it was none other than DPM Heng Swee Keat, who led the Singapore team in negotiating CECA with India back when he was the permanent secretary of MTI more than 15 years ago (‘ST says number of local IT grads set to grow while CECA continues to import IT workers from India‘).
Under CECA, it allows for “movement of natural persons” between India and Singapore. DPM Heng even negotiated more generous terms with India for ICTs:
There is also no quota requirement imposed on Indian ICTs, which means an Indian company can hire a whole “village” of staff in India and transfer them to Singapore 6 months later lock, stock and barrel, assuming they all have at least 1 year of industry experience.
Furthermore, under Article 9.3 of CECA, all the ICTs are to be exempted from any “labour market testing” or “economic needs testing”. That means, economic needs testing like Singapore’s FCF advertising requirement cannot be applied to them.
To top it all, Article 9.6 of CECA even allows the ICTs to bring in their spouses or dependents to work in Singapore too.
basically SG has given up its sovereignty to India !!
==
https://www.onlinecitizenasia.com/2...-from-jobs-bank-requirement-but-ceca-says-no/
Currently, a job is exempted from the FCF advertising requirement if it will be filled by an ICT. The FCF advertising requirement mandates that companies must advertise positions for Singaporeans on Jobs Bank before they can apply for EP to hire foreigners.
To be exempted, the foreign candidate has to meet the definition of ICTs under the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). WTO GATS defines an ICT as:
Manager, who has authority over day-to-day operations and, to hire and fire personnel;
Executive, who receives only general supervision or direction from management; or
Specialist, who possesses knowledge at an advanced level of expertise.
Additionally, under WTO GATS, an ICT:
Must have worked for the company outside Singapore for a minimum of 1 year
Are limited to a 3-year term but can be extended up to a maximum total of 5 years.
Singapore signs a more generous CECA with India
However, it’s almost impossible for the Singapore government to remove such exemption at least for ICTs coming from India. This is because Singapore has already signed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with India in 2005, which supersedes some of the terms in WTO GATS.
In fact, it was none other than DPM Heng Swee Keat, who led the Singapore team in negotiating CECA with India back when he was the permanent secretary of MTI more than 15 years ago (‘ST says number of local IT grads set to grow while CECA continues to import IT workers from India‘).
Under CECA, it allows for “movement of natural persons” between India and Singapore. DPM Heng even negotiated more generous terms with India for ICTs:
- Must have worked for the company for a minimum of 6 months with at least 1 year of industry experience
- ICTs will be permitted entry and can work for up to 2 years. This can be extended to a total term of not more than 8 years.
There is also no quota requirement imposed on Indian ICTs, which means an Indian company can hire a whole “village” of staff in India and transfer them to Singapore 6 months later lock, stock and barrel, assuming they all have at least 1 year of industry experience.
Furthermore, under Article 9.3 of CECA, all the ICTs are to be exempted from any “labour market testing” or “economic needs testing”. That means, economic needs testing like Singapore’s FCF advertising requirement cannot be applied to them.
To top it all, Article 9.6 of CECA even allows the ICTs to bring in their spouses or dependents to work in Singapore too.
