The country's manpower export marked an impressive 42.16 per cent growth in the first five months of calendar 2008 over that of the same period of the last year as two Arab states recruited large number of Bangladeshi workforce, officials said Tuesday.
The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia alone recruited almost two thirds of the total export in May for their booming infrastructure sector.
Abdul Malek, chief of the government' Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), said Bangladesh will be able to export around a million of manpower by the end of this year if the trend continues.
"We are making our best efforts to increase manpower export. The current growth is the result of our past relentless efforts," he said.
But sector insiders fear the current growth might face a setback in future if the government fails to take quick measures in resolving problems involving Bangladeshi expatriates.
"The government should play an active role in resolving any problem," Kazi Mohammed Mafizur Rahman, newly elected secretary general of Bangladesh Association International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), told the FE.
"But, unfortunately, some Bangladesh missions abroad do not cooperate with the workers when they seek assistance. In contrast, the missions of our neighbouring countries always extend cooperation to their workers at time of need," he added.
He appreciated the role of the government in resolving problems, including the one surfaced recently in Bahrain.
Mr Rahman hoped that Bangladesh's manpower export would increase in the rest of the year as BAIRA is trying its best to nurture the existing markets.
In the first five months (January-May), 377,894 Bangladeshis found jobs in over 100 countries against 265,827 in the same period last year, BMET officials said.
At least 91,999 found overseas jobs in January, 71,716 in February, 56,384 in March and 72,257 in April and 82,739 in May this year, according to the BMET.
During last month, the BMET official said, around 60,000 Bangladeshis found jobs in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. This is highest number of recruitment made in a month in two decades.
Officials, however, said despite a fall of recruitment by Kuwait and Bahrain Bangladeshis are increasingly getting jobs in other countries including Qatar, Oman, Malaysia and Singapore.
"So far, the five month's manpower export figure is a new record since the country has started sending workers with overseas jobs in mid 1970s," said a BMET official, adding this higher growth in overseas jobs helped Bangladesh receive $5.6 billion worth of remittance in the first ten months of the current fiscal.
More than 5.61 million Bangladeshis, who work and live abroad, sent home US$6.56 billion dollars in calendar 2007, which is around 25 per cent more than the remittance received in 2006.
UNB adds: Over 90,000 Bangladeshi workers have already been employed in Saudi Arabia this year, which is a record, according to an official account released Tuesday.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment said this is more than 68,000 over the same period in 2007, which was also a record, exceeding 36,000 of the previous year (2006).
"This is a very good news which contradicts the rumours that the Saudi labour market is shrinking for Bangladeshis. In fact, the figures clearly show that it is expanding," the spokesman said.
When asked to comment, Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Chowdhury, also in charge of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry, said, "Despite these increasing numbers, there are still some welfare issues we are grappling with. Hopefully, in this, too, we shall succeed."
Meanwhile, another report adds that the Bangladeshis in Bahrain hailed the U-turn in the decision of authorities on visas for Bangladeshi workers, the Gulf Daily News reported Tuesday.
