Kevin Foley, the Deputy Premier and Minister for Industry and Trade of South Australia informed that their construction, mining, and manufacturing industry are in need of an estimated 300,000 laborers. Foley also said that projects amounting to USD45-billion were recently approved by Australian government. Some of the in-demand job positions in South Australia are for mining engineers, computer scientists, and electronics technicians. Read more.

The POEA informed that the Counties Manukau District Health Board (CMDHB) of New Zealand urgently needs 35 Registered Nurses (, ICU, HDU, Orthopaedics, Burns, Plastics, Emergency Care and General Surgical Areas). Deadline to submit applications: 24 August 2008.
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The POEA informed that the Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) urgently needs 10 Dental Technicians and 10 Ortho Technicians. Deadline of submission of application is on: 13 August 2008. Read more.

The deployment ban in Iraq that was issued by the Philippine government in 2004 failed to discourage Filipinos who wish to work there. A recruiting company consultant informed that almost 10,000 OFWs are presently in Iraq.

Emmanuel Geslani of Anglo-European Services Inc said that most of the OFWs there enter Iraq via Dubai and Kuwait. Most are employed at US military bases including camps Anaconda and Victory. Iraq presently needs workers for construction and development projects.

Some agencies and OFWs hopes that the ban will be lifted soon. Geslani said, “ Many of the former Iraq workers were bitter against the Arroyo administration for imposing the ban. The decision to continue the ban was “ill-conceived” as security in Iraq had improved.”

The COMELEC announced that the registration for overseas absentee voting for May 10, 2010 national election will start on December 1, 2008 up to August 31, 2009. All OFWs who wants to participate in the coming presidential polls are enjoined to sign up or update their registration with the COMELEC.