Saudi Arabian and India officials will soon meet to finalise procedures for the recruitment of domestic workers in the kingdom, said a report.

The recruitment process will begin within two weeks, the Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi was quoted as saying in the Arab News report.

The decision to launch the recruitment initiative on the basis of the new agreement would be taken by the Saudi Labour Ministry, he said.

“We hope the agreement will determine the relation between the employer and employee and this is a very significant achievement,” he was quoted as saying.

The two countries signed a labour co-operation agreement recently that will cover about a quarter of the 2.8 million Indians working in Saudi Arabia.

Under the agreement, a standard employment contract would set out minimum wages, working hours, paid holidays and a dispute settlement mechanism.

Saudi Arabian Labour Minister Adel bin Mohammed Fakeih said the agreement was in the context of the protection of the rights and regulating the labour relations between employers and employees as per international regulations and treaties.