Foreign Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury Sunday spelt out a 7-point strategy for exploring new markets and expanding existing ones for Bangladeshi workforce, as the country earns huge remittance form the expatriate workers, reports UNB.
Some 4,75,000 Bangladeshi workers have sent home $5.31 billion in last 10 months, which is about 20 per cent higher than that of the previous year.
Chowdhury, who is also in charge of the Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry, told a press briefing that the government is thinking if the remittance could be invested in banking sector or for establishing special economic zones to get better returns.
He said, the government has taken initiatives to explore new labour markets in Norway, Sweden, Russia, Romania, Poland and Canada.
The Adviser, who just returned from a visit to Norway and Sweden said, Norway, rich in oil industry, requires engineers with command over English language, while Sweden is enacting new legislation to recruit workforce from outside Europe.
Besides, he said, the European Union (EU) is introducing a Blue Card system to recruit skilled manpower in view of aging population and falling birth rate in the EU countries.
He said, the prospect for Bangladeshi workers in the East European countries like Romania and Poland is also good, as the workers from East Europe are rushing to West Europe for better employment.
The Adviser said, the government has started correspondence with Moscow for sending Bangladeshi manpower to Russia.
About expansion of existing markets, he said, ministers from Oman and Qatar will be visiting Dhaka soon when the issue of recruiting more Bangladeshi workers in those countries would be discussed.
He said, some 15,000 to 20,000 workers are going every month to UAE, where more than 6,00,000 Bangladeshi workers are employed.
The Adviser said, Libya has also expressed desire to take some 2,000 workers from Bangladesh.
He said, besides sending workers abroad, the government is focusing on streamlining immigration to avoid plight and deprivation of the workers. In this context, he referred to WTO and IOM for discussing the issue of managing migration.
On the critical issue of frauds with expatriate workers, the Adviser said, strict monitoring system will be introduced so the workers do not face any deception. Assistance from Task Force and other law-enforcing agencies will be sought in this respect, he added.
7-pt strategy to explore new labour markets abroad
FE Team | Published: November 12, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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