No impact of global recession on remittance, manpower market

---

FE Report
The global recession will not affect the flow of remittance to Bangladesh as the number of workers retrenched in top manpower markets is not 'alarming' while fresh migration remains strong, an expert said Thursday.
Tasnim Siddiqui, the country's top migration expert, said money sent by Bangladeshis working abroad is poised to hit $10 billion mark in 2009 despite gloomy outlook forecast by the World Bank.
"World Bank's prediction of reduced flow is based on number of people migrating in the year 2009. Remittance flows however are not linked to the current year migration alone," Professor Siddiqui said
"Remittance flow in a particular year depends on cumulative flows of the current as well as earlier migrants," said Siddiqui who heads migration think-tank the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU).
"The financial recession has so far not affected the remittance inflow. It will also not affect it in the long run, provided certain steps are taken by the government, private sector and the civil society organisations," she said while presenting a paper on migration and remittance trend in the city.
Her comments came just a week after the World Bank said that remittance flow to the country is set to suffer a major setback after government data showed a 38 per cent drop in number of overseas jobs in the first three months.
Remittance is Bangladesh's key economic driver of growth, boosting local demand and improving standard of life across the country.
Last year the country's 6.3 million overseas workers sent home nine billion dollars in remittance, which is 11 per cent of Bangladesh's Gross Domestic Product.
Siddiqui said despite the development lender's dire projection the global recession has not impacted remittance flow as the country received $2.5 billion in the first three months of 2009.
She said migration has not slowed down drastically as 150,000 workers found overseas jobs during January-March.
Although the figure shows a sharp fall from the same period last year, Siddiqui said the trend remains strong given the near term global economic outlook.
She said although over the last few months a number of migrants are returning home, a good number of them "actually have failed to find any jobs" and the combined number of them is not 'alarming'.
"Some 800,000 workers went abroad in each of the last two years. Some have returned. But we have not heard of serious retrenchments and return," she said.
Siddiqui urged the government to announce a financial package to stimulate labour migration including specific allocation for this sector in the budget in a bid to reduce the risks undertaken by migrants and their families.
"The government should respect the importance of remittance and immediately offer another package covering all risks involved in labour migration process."
A compensation package should be developed for those who have returned home within six months of their deployment, she added.
She said even in the recession, there is scope for a new market exploration.
"The market for women domestic workers has not been affected by the recession. Government should come up with incentive package to encourage private sector and non-governmental ogranisations to set up training centres for them."
Siddiqui suggested forming of a public-private taskforce involving at least four ministries which will identify 8-10 most important labour receiving countries and undertake special initiatives to manage the markets.
Speaking as chief guest, former caretaker government advisor Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman said the country should analyse impacts of the global meltdown on migration and remittance and explore opportunities.
"We have to identify sectors such as hospitality management and nursing where there is high demand despite the global recession," Zillur said.
Zillur said although Bangladesh's employment markets in some Middle Eastern and East Asian countries might have contracted to some extent, opportunities in other areas have opened up.
"There is huge scope for local construction workers in African countries like Rwanda and Central Asian countries like Azerbaijan," added Zillur who heads Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC).
Director General (DG) Major General Sheikh Md Monirul Islam presided over the discussion.