Myanmar opens its doors to send maids to Hong Kong

Myanmar has taken another step towards opening up to the world by allowing a Hong Kong agency to recruit its people to work as domestic helpers in the city.

The Golden Mind Employment Agency became the world's first agency to be given permission to recruit domestic workers in the former pariah state.

The agency hopes the move will help overcome a shortage of such workers from the Philippines, while Myanmar hopes it will reduce its unemployment and illegal emigration woes.

"In the past, Myanmar might have been reluctant to let its citizens [work] as domestic assistants abroad due to some problems and difficulties they might face," a spokesman for Myanmar's consulate in Hong Kong said. But the Southeast Asian country was now "more open to the outside world".

The spokesman also said Hong Kong was seen as "reliable" because it had rules and regulations in place that would protect domestic helpers' rights.

"[The move] will also help reduce the unemployment rate in Myanmar, as well as illegal migration of workers to neighbouring countries," he said.