1.4m manpower exported in three years

Our Correspondent CHITTAGONG, Nov 17: In spite of global economic meltdown Bangladesh has sent over 1.4 million manpower both skilled and non-skilled to different countries in the last three years. During the same period 0.34 million people have been employed within the country. Chairman of the parliamentary standing committee for the ministry of expatriate welfare and employment Barrister Anisul Islam Mahmud told this at a function while inaugurating biometric impression for the intending expatriates at Agrabad CGO Building no 2 in the city today. Barrister Anis opened the programme by pressing a button of computer. Presided over by Md Foyez Ahmed, deputy commissioner of Chittagong, the function was also addressed as special guest by Khorshed Alam Chowdhury, director general of BMET (Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training). Anis said at least 0.5 million local people will get employment abroad if it they are trained in different vocational faculties. "Although the developed nations are facing economic meltdown there is acute problem of trained personnel which can be filled in by trained people from countries like Bangladesh because of higher wages in many countries," he observed. So, there is no alternative but to train our people in technical and vocational faculties beside general and higher education, he added. "If our people working abroad have smart cards with biometric impression (BI) they will not face any problem or harassment there," he said emphasising on BI smart cards. According to his estimate there are some 10 million people working in different countries of the world although their official record is 7.0 to 7.5 million. In his address Khorshed Alam said a branch of Expatriates' Welfare Bank will be opened in Chittagong as the government attaches highest importance on this city after Dhaka. Replying to a question he said there is lack of planning in sending workforce abroad for which they have to face manifold problems. He said 50 national IDs with fingerprint have been found faulty in Korea due to lack of coordination between passports, national IDs and the organisations engaged with smart cards with fingerprint.