BD to be ninth source country

Bangladesh is going to be enlisted as a source country in terms of sending workers to Japan, creating scope for employment of its skilled labour.
Both the nations will sign a memorandum of understanding styled 'Specialised Skilled Workers' on August 27, said a source familiar with this development.
Once this deal is done, Bangladesh will be the ninth source country for the emerging Japanese labour market.
Japan as the world's third-largest economy needs 345,000 foreign workers by the calendar year 2025.
Earlier, it enlisted eight countries including Nepal, the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia as source countries for workforce.
A three-member delegation, led by expatriates' welfare and overseas employment secretary Rownaq Jahan, will leave for Tokyo on August 25 to ink the memorandum.
Once enlisted, Bangladesh will be able to send skilled workers for 14 sectors and more than 100 sub-sectors like caregiving, construction and automobile.
When asked, an official of the ministry concerned said the development came following the recent visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Japan.
She requested her Japanese counterpart to enlist Bangladesh as a source country as part of cementing bilateral ties.
A guideline regarding the migration process will follow the instrument, said the official who sought anonymity.
Different companies will recruit manpower from Bangladesh under stipulated terms and conditions.
But every recruiter will follow the basic rules to be enshrined in the memorandum, the official disclosed.
Referring to the draft of the agreement, he said workers would be sent through private recruiting agencies to be chosen by both the countries.
This system will not allow any broker to commit forgeries of any type. Besides, migration costs will be minimum, to be set by the respective companies, he added.
Only skilled workers will have the employability in Japan under this arrangement.
"So, it will help to increase the number quality migration from Bangladesh," the official cited.
Migration experts, however, said Japan could be a very good job destination for Bangladeshi workers if the entire process is followed properly.
Omar Faruque Chowdhury, executive director of Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Programme (OKUP), said Bangladesh should be careful to utilise this opportunity.
He accentuated a strict monitoring system so that jobseekers do not fall prey to middlemen's clutches.
Mr Chowdhury suggested the government make a workers' database for Japan market to lessen middlemen's involvement.
Bangladesh sends technical interns (TIs) to Japan under a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) signed between the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) and the International Manpower Development (IM) Japan.
The arrangement was made about two years back.
Only state-run agencies can send TIs. Seventy TIs have so far gone to Japan through the deal.
The Japan International Training Cooperation Organisation and Bangladesh signed another MoC in 2018 to recruit TIs through private agencies.
According to officials, some 11 recruiters have been selected to send the interns. The procedure to send TIs formally will start soon.

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