The Kingdom and Indonesia are expected to sign a labor agreement on Wednesday to recruit housemaids from Indonesia.

The agreement will be the fourth in a series of similar deals signed earlier with the Philippines, India and Sri Lanka, Ahmed Al-Fihaid, ministry’s undersecretary for international affairs, told Al-Eqtisadiyah daily.

He pointed out that four countries cover around 70 percent of the Kingdom’s market for housemaids, while the remaining 30 percent of the labor force is supplied from other Asian and African countries.

Al-Fihaid said the salaries of Indonesian housemaids are governed by supply and demand mechanisms, adding that these labor agreements aim to regularize the recruitment of quality manpower in an efficient manner. The Ministry of Labor is negotiating labor agreements with a number of manpower exporting countries in a bid to safeguard the rights of all parties, he said.

Three years ago, the Labor Ministry suspended the recruitment of Indonesian housemaids due to the insistence of the latter’s government on imposing a number of terms and conditions which were, according to the ministry an infringement on the privacy of Saudi citizens.

The Indonesian side reportedly requested information about the Saudi families employing Indonesian help, including the number of family members, monthly income and the house chores.

The Indonesian government is negotiating with the Ministry of Labor with the aim to raise the salaries of Indonesian housemaids.

Jakarta wants to match wages earned by Filipino workers, who receive salaries ranging between SR1,200-1,500.