KSA hiring from BD to speed up: Minister

Manpower sending from Bangladesh to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) will be expedited further in the coming days through a proper process as both the countries are working to this end, said Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad.

After a meeting with Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Essa Yousef Essa Alduhailan, Imran Ahmad told the FE that Saudi Arabia has expressed willingness to resolve the existing issues regarding hiring workers from Bangladesh.

"So we are hopeful that migration process for the Arab country will be easier in the coming days," he said.

He also said the visa issuance system will be digitiged and that will help make the workers hiring process hassle-free and fair.

Of the total workers bound for the overseas countries, more than 70 per cent are going to Saudi Arabia, he added.

Despite a shortage of manpower, Bangladesh labour wings in Saudi Arabia are trying to ensure monitoring of working environment for Bangladeshi workers there.

On the other hand, the meeting discussed how to rationalise migration cost, restrict intermediaries and protect the interests of workers staying in that job-destination country, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment (MoEWOE) on Thursday.

Dr Ahmed Munirus Saleheen, secretary to the MoEWOE, Md Shahidul Alam, director general of the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), and other officials from the home and foreign ministries, among others, were present.

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