Diversifying manpower export market
Sunday, 30 November 2008
Shahiduzzaman Khan
GLOBAL economic slowdown appears to have a negative impact on Bangladesh's manpower export sector. Employment prospects in Saudi Arabia, the single largest destination for thousands of overseas job seekers, has shrunk since July last as Riyadh has almost halted issuing fresh visas to the aspiring Bangladeshis.
According to statistics of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), some 20,980 Bangladeshis have found jobs in Saudi Arabia in July-October period of this year against 75,663 in the same period of last 2007 year. The BMET data also showed that some 1,624 Bangladeshis found jobs in Saudi Arabia during November 1-26 against 23,432 people found jobs in the same period last year.
According to reports published in the local media last week, it's not only due to global economic slowdown, but also due to propaganda against Bangladeshi workers, which is being carried out by a section of Saudi media, controlled by journalists of two South Asian manpower exporting rivals. Such section of the media deliberately publish exaggerated reports involving Bangladeshi workers there, which has fuelled Riyadh's anger and caused a near stoppage of recruitment of Bangladesh workers over last few months.
There are nearly 1.75 million Bangladeshis living and working in Saudi Arabia. Most of those Bangladeshis, who are now leaving Dhaka for Saudi Arabia, got visas before August. Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) president, called on the Saudi Ambassador Abdullah bin Naser Al-Bosairi to discuss this issue. He said the situation is expected to improve from next year. The Saudi ambassador assured him that Saudi Arabia will gradually soften its position in recruiting more manpower from Bangladesh.
In spite of its falling revenue due to drastic decline in oil prices which is the fallout of world economic meltdown, Saudi Arabia requires over a million workers to support its newly launched infrastructure development projects. Some 128,540 Bangladeshis found jobs in Saudi Arabia in the past ten months (January to October) this year against 161,488 jobs in the same period last year, according to statistics of the BMET. Until last year, manpower export was registering a phenomenal growth. The export figures from the year 2006 doubled in 2007, according to statistics released by the foreign ministry recently. The ministry also says that the Saudi government continues to import manpower from Bangladesh, contrary to recent media reports claiming otherwise.
The number of workers cleared to work overseas in 2007 was 0.83 million, up from 0.38 million in 2006. Meanwhile, a total of 0.16 million workers have already left for work abroad in the first two months of the current year, compared to 78,000 in the same period last year. The foreign ministry press release also says 20,200 workers have already gone for work to Saudi Arabia alone and the flow continues, adding that a Saudi company -- a concern of Dallah Group -- is currently recruiting semi-skilled and skilled professionals from Bangladesh.
In order to rejuvenate the manpower export market, Bangladesh government now wants to make a number of high-level visits to Saudi Arabia to iron out the differences on it issues. The ministry said they are stepping up efforts to reduce difficulties faced by Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia. The ministry has meanwhile urged Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia to work in a way "that the host government is not unduly embarrassed.
Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus in a recent visit to Saudi Arabia said that Bangladeshis do not break the law more than other communities in the desert kingdom, which is the destination for the highest numbers of Bangladeshi workers. But the media of that country is playing a foul game. A number of reports have appeared in the Saudi media alleging Bangladeshi workers' involvement in murder, snatching and burglaries.
Such a situation demands involvement of some agencies that would promote employment of Bangladesh workers, particularly skilled ones, in the large number of prospective employer countries. In this matter, the government may give all facilities to BOESL, and maybe also involve NGOs like BRAC and Grameen Bank to promote employment of Bangladesh workers abroad.
The country's manpower export issue was thoroughly analysed by the Royal Danish Embassy, Dhaka in their report Vision 2015, Bangladesh as a Leading Manpower Exporter January 2008, and by Bangladesh Enterprise Institute in their study on Policy and Public Benefit Interventions. All these reports were directed to help Bangladesh achieve annual migrant remittances of $ 30 billion by 2015.
From these reports it can be seen that the possibilities of manpower export are enormous. For example, there is a worldwide shortage of qualified nurses, and Bangladesh has got practically millions of unemployed women. Other skilled workers like carpenters, plumbers, auto-mechanics, air-conditioning technicians, and so the list goes on. Also there are qualified technical workers like IT engineers, computer experts etc.
In one sense, Bangladesh is practically surviving on the remittances of its workers. The total remittance in the year 2006-2007 was $6.0 billion, and the remittance for the period July-December 2007 was $3.44 billion. For the year 2007-2008 the remittance is likely to exceed $7.0 billion. Ironically, although the government and the country are reaping huge benefits from wage earners' remittances, not enough is being done to administer the whole business of manpower export, which is really the goose that is laying the golden egg.
If one examines the whole manpower business in depth, be numerous underhanded dealings, both by the recruiting agents and the agents abroad, would be found. False passports, false visas, false recruitments proliferate on Bangladesh side. And in overseas, if a company has 100 vacancies the foreign agents may take out permission for 1000 vacancies, and Bangladesh workers who land up in the foreign country are left stranded without a job.
Presently, almost all job seekers are hostage to the unscrupulous recruiting agents in Bangladesh and also to their counterparts in the country of employment. Actually, most large companies and government agencies abroad do not charge any money from the workers they employ. The lower grade employees of the overseas companies tie up with some local agents and charge money for any recruitment. The entire business of manpower export requires review by a group of professionals as Bangladesh can benefit much more from it than it does at present.
Formation of a regulatory commission has become an imperative to protect the rights of the migrant workers abroad. The commission should be formed with people drawn from various professional bodies, recruiting agencies, and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is a pity that the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment has so far failed to protect the interests of the migrant workers, who are regularly being harassed by their employers abroad or cheated by local manpower agencies.
Sustaining the remittance growth has become a major challenge for Bangladesh as the development dynamics in the Middle East has been changing fast, adopting latest technologies and requiring highly skilled workers in almost all sectors. The country needs to progressively change the country mix and increase skill level of its migrant workers to sustain its remittance growth.
Meanwhile, the present caretaker administration has undertaken a seven-point strategy to ensure the well being of the Bangladeshi workers abroad and expand the manpower-export market worldwide by removing the prevailing hurdles. The strategy includes exploring new manpower export markets in the Scandinavian, European and East European countries like Norway, Sweden and Romania.
The government will certainly need a coherent migration policy for channelling its people abroad. Proper planning and sound government policy will open more opportunities for Bangladeshis to go abroad.
................................................................
szkhan@thefinancialexpress-bd.com
GLOBAL economic slowdown appears to have a negative impact on Bangladesh's manpower export sector. Employment prospects in Saudi Arabia, the single largest destination for thousands of overseas job seekers, has shrunk since July last as Riyadh has almost halted issuing fresh visas to the aspiring Bangladeshis.
According to statistics of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), some 20,980 Bangladeshis have found jobs in Saudi Arabia in July-October period of this year against 75,663 in the same period of last 2007 year. The BMET data also showed that some 1,624 Bangladeshis found jobs in Saudi Arabia during November 1-26 against 23,432 people found jobs in the same period last year.
According to reports published in the local media last week, it's not only due to global economic slowdown, but also due to propaganda against Bangladeshi workers, which is being carried out by a section of Saudi media, controlled by journalists of two South Asian manpower exporting rivals. Such section of the media deliberately publish exaggerated reports involving Bangladeshi workers there, which has fuelled Riyadh's anger and caused a near stoppage of recruitment of Bangladesh workers over last few months.
There are nearly 1.75 million Bangladeshis living and working in Saudi Arabia. Most of those Bangladeshis, who are now leaving Dhaka for Saudi Arabia, got visas before August. Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) president, called on the Saudi Ambassador Abdullah bin Naser Al-Bosairi to discuss this issue. He said the situation is expected to improve from next year. The Saudi ambassador assured him that Saudi Arabia will gradually soften its position in recruiting more manpower from Bangladesh.
In spite of its falling revenue due to drastic decline in oil prices which is the fallout of world economic meltdown, Saudi Arabia requires over a million workers to support its newly launched infrastructure development projects. Some 128,540 Bangladeshis found jobs in Saudi Arabia in the past ten months (January to October) this year against 161,488 jobs in the same period last year, according to statistics of the BMET. Until last year, manpower export was registering a phenomenal growth. The export figures from the year 2006 doubled in 2007, according to statistics released by the foreign ministry recently. The ministry also says that the Saudi government continues to import manpower from Bangladesh, contrary to recent media reports claiming otherwise.
The number of workers cleared to work overseas in 2007 was 0.83 million, up from 0.38 million in 2006. Meanwhile, a total of 0.16 million workers have already left for work abroad in the first two months of the current year, compared to 78,000 in the same period last year. The foreign ministry press release also says 20,200 workers have already gone for work to Saudi Arabia alone and the flow continues, adding that a Saudi company -- a concern of Dallah Group -- is currently recruiting semi-skilled and skilled professionals from Bangladesh.
In order to rejuvenate the manpower export market, Bangladesh government now wants to make a number of high-level visits to Saudi Arabia to iron out the differences on it issues. The ministry said they are stepping up efforts to reduce difficulties faced by Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia. The ministry has meanwhile urged Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia to work in a way "that the host government is not unduly embarrassed.
Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus in a recent visit to Saudi Arabia said that Bangladeshis do not break the law more than other communities in the desert kingdom, which is the destination for the highest numbers of Bangladeshi workers. But the media of that country is playing a foul game. A number of reports have appeared in the Saudi media alleging Bangladeshi workers' involvement in murder, snatching and burglaries.
Such a situation demands involvement of some agencies that would promote employment of Bangladesh workers, particularly skilled ones, in the large number of prospective employer countries. In this matter, the government may give all facilities to BOESL, and maybe also involve NGOs like BRAC and Grameen Bank to promote employment of Bangladesh workers abroad.
The country's manpower export issue was thoroughly analysed by the Royal Danish Embassy, Dhaka in their report Vision 2015, Bangladesh as a Leading Manpower Exporter January 2008, and by Bangladesh Enterprise Institute in their study on Policy and Public Benefit Interventions. All these reports were directed to help Bangladesh achieve annual migrant remittances of $ 30 billion by 2015.
From these reports it can be seen that the possibilities of manpower export are enormous. For example, there is a worldwide shortage of qualified nurses, and Bangladesh has got practically millions of unemployed women. Other skilled workers like carpenters, plumbers, auto-mechanics, air-conditioning technicians, and so the list goes on. Also there are qualified technical workers like IT engineers, computer experts etc.
In one sense, Bangladesh is practically surviving on the remittances of its workers. The total remittance in the year 2006-2007 was $6.0 billion, and the remittance for the period July-December 2007 was $3.44 billion. For the year 2007-2008 the remittance is likely to exceed $7.0 billion. Ironically, although the government and the country are reaping huge benefits from wage earners' remittances, not enough is being done to administer the whole business of manpower export, which is really the goose that is laying the golden egg.
If one examines the whole manpower business in depth, be numerous underhanded dealings, both by the recruiting agents and the agents abroad, would be found. False passports, false visas, false recruitments proliferate on Bangladesh side. And in overseas, if a company has 100 vacancies the foreign agents may take out permission for 1000 vacancies, and Bangladesh workers who land up in the foreign country are left stranded without a job.
Presently, almost all job seekers are hostage to the unscrupulous recruiting agents in Bangladesh and also to their counterparts in the country of employment. Actually, most large companies and government agencies abroad do not charge any money from the workers they employ. The lower grade employees of the overseas companies tie up with some local agents and charge money for any recruitment. The entire business of manpower export requires review by a group of professionals as Bangladesh can benefit much more from it than it does at present.
Formation of a regulatory commission has become an imperative to protect the rights of the migrant workers abroad. The commission should be formed with people drawn from various professional bodies, recruiting agencies, and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is a pity that the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment has so far failed to protect the interests of the migrant workers, who are regularly being harassed by their employers abroad or cheated by local manpower agencies.
Sustaining the remittance growth has become a major challenge for Bangladesh as the development dynamics in the Middle East has been changing fast, adopting latest technologies and requiring highly skilled workers in almost all sectors. The country needs to progressively change the country mix and increase skill level of its migrant workers to sustain its remittance growth.
Meanwhile, the present caretaker administration has undertaken a seven-point strategy to ensure the well being of the Bangladeshi workers abroad and expand the manpower-export market worldwide by removing the prevailing hurdles. The strategy includes exploring new manpower export markets in the Scandinavian, European and East European countries like Norway, Sweden and Romania.
The government will certainly need a coherent migration policy for channelling its people abroad. Proper planning and sound government policy will open more opportunities for Bangladeshis to go abroad.
................................................................
szkhan@thefinancialexpress-bd.com