Zambia wants Saudi Arabia to hire its workers as maids, drivers and cleaners, according to the African country’s ambassador.

“The Zambian government has formed a ministerial committee to look into the possibility of exporting Zambian workers to the Kingdom,” said Zambian Ambassador Ibrahim Mumba recently. Saudi Arabia was currently hiring from other African countries including Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia, he said.

He said a labor agreement between the two countries would help cut unemployment in Zambia. “Out of the 14.5 million population, only 500,000 are regularly employed,” said Mumba.

“The Zambian workers hired will work as drivers, cleaners or housemaids in the Kingdom,” Mumba said. The Saudi Labor Ministry would have to meet with its Zambian counterpart to discuss the feasibility of an agreement, he said.

He said the two nations’ Permanent Joint Committee met in Riyadh from March 1 to 3 to implement an agreement signed in 2010. The meeting helped facilitate several ongoing projects including the supply of oil to Zambia.

He said that further collaboration in the cultural field is under way, with the first Zambian student from its Ministry of Defense currently studying Arabic in the Saudi capital.

He had also written a letter to King Fahd Military Hospital in Riyadh to explore collaboration with a university teaching hospital in Zambia.