Encouraging migrant workers to invest

OVER 5.0 million Bangladeshis work abroad as migrant workers and they remit their hard earned money to their families. Unfortunately, much of the remitted foreign exchange is spent by the families in an unproductive way. Government intervention is needed to encourage our expatriate people to invest more for productive purposes and thereby earn more in return and lead a better life. The government should introduce an attractive scheme for the people who work abroad to invest in the country. Happily, remittances from Bangladeshis working abroad increased in the last fiscal year. Even during the global economic recession, the flow of inward remittance was almost unchanged. A majority of Bangladeshi expatriates are employed in Middle Eastern countries and about 60 per cent of the remittances come from there.
Now the government needs to encourage the migrant workers to utilize their money in a productive way. If the expatriates are given an attractive scheme for investment they will surely be discouraged to spend money on luxury items or on unproductive luxury. We must not forget that the remittance sent by the expatriates is the key source of our foreign exchange alongside garment exports.
Mohammad Sohel Hara
Bonosree, Dhaka
[email protected]