Oman is willing to regularise 96,000 Bangladeshi workers who are staying without proper documents in the Arab country.
Oman labour minister Dr Mahad bin Said bin Ali Baowain expressed the eagerness at a recent meeting with Bangladesh's state minister for the Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Shofiqur Rahman Chowdhury.
The gulf nation also gave assurance to resume its labour market for Bangladeshi workers.
Recently, state minister Shofiqur has visited Dubai, Oman and Qatar on the labour market issues.
Referring to the Oman visit, he said that 96,000 Bangladeshi workers are living without necessary documents in Oman.
The Oman government has expressed eagerness to regularise them. A penalty is charged for this legalisation.
"We've requested the Oman labour minister to waive this fine," he said while talking to the media at his office in Probashi Kallyan Bhaban in Dhaka on Tuesday.
At the same time, Oman has also assured Bangladesh of taking people in 12 categories, he said.
He has discussed sending of skilled workers, and Omani employers have shown interest in hiring skilled workers through manpower recruiters or the Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL) or directly from technical training centres, he said.
Regarding the labour market of the United Arab Emirates, Mr Chowdhury said that a meeting has been held with Dubai businessmen for market promotion.
Oman halted the issuance of visas across all categories for Bangladeshis from October 2023.
The visa suspension for Bangladeshi nationals by Oman came in the context of a comprehensive periodical review, according to the Oman Embassy in Dhaka.
More than 1.6 million Bangladeshis have gone to Oman with jobs since 2024, according to data from the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training.
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