Decline in remittance earning

Country's remittance earnings recorded a decline for the first time in 13 consecutive years in the last fiscal year (FY), 2013-14. The decline in remittance inflow, though marginal at only 1.61 per cent over that of the previous fiscal, is enough to stir up worries among all concerned, including the policy-makers. The volume of money sent by the Bangladesh nationals employed abroad had been rising consistently over the years except for FY 2001. The remittance earnings and export receipts from apparels form now the country's economic backbone. The reliance on these two is so extensive that any major disruption or decline in either of them threatens to create problems for the country's economic managers.  
The export receipts by the country's readymade garment (RMG) sector recorded a modest growth in the just-concluded fiscal, despite various disruptions, political or otherwise during the year. It was expected that the remittance earning, too, would make a similar growth. Though political disturbances in the first half of the fiscal are largely blamed for the decline, there are other causes  that are responsible for the unexpected fall in remittance earning. The poor outflow of manpower to the traditional destinations is the foremost one among them. Besides, an unstable political situation in some of the Middle Eastern countries had largely influenced the outflow of manpower.  
Many traditional destinations are increasingly closing their doors to the Bangladeshi workers for a number of reasons. Kuwait had stopped employing the workers from Bangladesh long ago. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), that employs the largest number of the Bangladeshi workers, brought down recruitment of the Bangladeshis to insignificant numbers in recent years. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the last Middle Eastern (ME) country to put restrictions on the entry of the Bangladeshi job-seekers. In such a situation, many workers, both through legal and illegal means, entered a number of trouble-torn Middle Eastern countries, taking up employments. Some of such migrant workers are now having a difficult time. Even a few have been killed. The events are working as deterrents to scores of the would-be illegal migrant workers.  
There have not been enough efforts on the part of the government to explore employment opportunities for the Bangladeshi workers in countries other than the traditional ones. Malaysia and South Korea are the two countries that have been showing interest in taking workers from Bangladesh. But the number of workers getting employment in these countries, using legal routes, has been well below the potential because of the alleged procedural complications. Then again, the government move to send people only through official channels had also dampened the initiatives taken on the part of the private recruiters of manpower.
The government has been claiming that it has taken a number of diplomatic moves to help restore normalcy about the recruitment of the Bangladeshi workers by the ME countries. But no tangible outcome of such initiatives is yet visible. Given the last year's remittance earning, the government can hardly waste any more time to renew diplomatic initiatives to convince such key manpower destinations as the KSA and the UAE and remove the factors that are discouraging these countries from recruiting new workers from Bangladesh.   
Another important issue - the skill level of the Bangladeshi migrant workers - is now posing a threat to the export of manpower. It is increasingly becoming difficult for the unskilled workers to find jobs abroad. Moreover, the wage an unskilled worker now fetches is very low and unattractive. The policy-makers were cautioned about this situation beforehand. But not enough has been done to this effect. There is still time to make substantial efforts for improving the skill level of outbound workers and help them secure better-paying jobs.