Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Ltd (BOESL) is going to set a record by sending 4,941 workers to South Korea by this year through the Employment Permit System (EPS), reports BSS.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the South Korean government suspended admitting foreign EPS workers from March 2020 to November 2021.
After the pandemic cooled both in South Korea and Bangladesh, the South Korean government resumed receiving workers from December 2021.
It requires strict quarantine measures before the workers' departure from Bangladesh and after arrival in Korea.
In 2022, South Korea announced a quota of 1941 Bangladeshi workers, but BOESL completed the quota within six months.
That's why; the South Korea announced an additional quota in two phases. BOSEL expected that they can complete the quota within December this year.
If everything goes according to plan, the total workers employed will be the highest since the beginning of Korea's EPS programme in Bangladesh since 2008.
Earlier in 2018, a highest of 2,355 Bangladeshi workers went to the country through the EPS.
Talking to BSS, Managing Director of BOESL Dr Mallick Anwar Hossain said BOESL is working jointly with the South Korean Embassy and the EPS Center in Dhaka to increase the number of workers and diversify the areas of their employment.
They are also working to prepare more qualified workers, he added.
He informed that the South Korean government has been recruiting medium and low-skilled foreign workers from 16 selected countries, including Bangladesh, through the EPS.
"Sixteen countries are sending workers to South Korea under employment permit system. Among them, Bangladesh is in a respected position by sending qualified workers within a short time," he added.
Dr. Mallick Anwar Hossain, also an additional secretary of the Bangladesh government, said Bangladeshi workers are engaged in industrial works in South Korea getting minimum monthly salary of $1800.
Korea's EPS system and foreign worker policies were highly recognized by the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The country ensures measures like high level of salaries, equal labor rights and four-category-insurance for employees.
More than 25,877 Bangladesh workers have been dispatched to South Korea through the EPS.
According to the Bangladesh Bank, the remittance flow from Bangladeshi workers in South Korea is $135.46 million in FY 2021-22 which made South Korea the 15 major sources of expatriate workers' remittance earning.
After a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the two governments, BOESL has been sending Bangladesh workers to South Korea since 2008.
