S Arabia finally reopens market for BD workers

In a major development, the government of Saudi Arabia got Sunday clearance from the Royal Court for resuming recruitment of Bangladeshi workers, said an official announcement in Dhaka.

The formal export of Bangladeshi manpower to Saudi Arabia remained closed since 2008 following a restriction.

Ahmed F. Alfahaid, Deputy Minister for International Affairs of the Ministry of Labour of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, phoned Shahidul Islam, the Bangladesh Ambassador to the KSA, to tell him about the all-clear on the day.

The message was soon passed on to Dhaka and the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment issued a statement.

It also mentioned that a high-level Saudi delegation comprising representatives from the ministries concerned of Saudi Arabia is expected to visit Bangladesh probably in a week to formulate modalities of the recruitment".

"Following continued diplomatic efforts by the Bangladesh government, including a latest official visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2009, the long-awaited Saudi labour market has opened for Bangladeshi workers," the statement reads.

The oil-rich gulf country is the largest job market for Bangladesh. Saudi Labour Minister Adel Fakeih, after a meeting with Bangladesh Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain on January 21, said it had decided to lift the ban on recruiting Bangladeshis.

The resumption of Saudi labour market will bring a great potential for the employment of professionals, skilled, semi-skilled and un-skilled Bangladeshi manpower in the oil-rich country, it said.

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