Govt, EU envoys to talk labour market expansion this week
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
AZM Anas
The government will sit with the European envoys stationed in Bangladesh Thursday to share ideas on expanding the country's labour market in the continent, still relatively unhurt by the global recession, officials said.
The state recruiting agency BOESEL has convened the meeting with envoys and honorary councillors representing the European nations, who are looking for skilled and semi-skilled foreign workers in various sectors - from manufacturing to construction.
"The global crisis will not last forever. But we need to prepare grounds for entering the less-explored markets of Europe," a senior official at the overseas employment ministry said.
The ministry has asked Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Ltd (BOESEL), the official agency responsible for processing foreign jobs, to step up lobbying with the European governments and companies, who promise better payment and protect rights.
The BOESEL official said the meeting would try to impress the European representatives about the 'resilience' of Bangladeshi labour force, who are hard working and loyal to their employers.
"We will try to reverse the popular notion about Bangladeshi workers," he said. "I think, some East European nations including Poland, Romania and Estonia offer great potentials," he added.
Officials said they would also urge diplomats to ease visa restrictions that hinder the increased labour exports to the European markets.
The move comes when Bangladesh's traditional overseas job markets have virtually faltered, under pressure of the deepening global economic crisis.
The UAE's Dubai, which became the top destination for the Bangladeshi working people in recent years, deported thousands of foreign workers after the global crisis struck the Emirates. Recruitment in Saudi Arabia, the country's biggest labour market, and Kuwait has remained almost suspended for years.
Malaysia and Singapore, the country's two other top job markets, also started sending back Bangladeshi workers, as the South-East Asian economic powerhouses had to face increasing joblessness. In early March, Malaysia cancelled 55,000 visas of Bangladeshis, who were to move there with jobs.
The government will sit with the European envoys stationed in Bangladesh Thursday to share ideas on expanding the country's labour market in the continent, still relatively unhurt by the global recession, officials said.
The state recruiting agency BOESEL has convened the meeting with envoys and honorary councillors representing the European nations, who are looking for skilled and semi-skilled foreign workers in various sectors - from manufacturing to construction.
"The global crisis will not last forever. But we need to prepare grounds for entering the less-explored markets of Europe," a senior official at the overseas employment ministry said.
The ministry has asked Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Ltd (BOESEL), the official agency responsible for processing foreign jobs, to step up lobbying with the European governments and companies, who promise better payment and protect rights.
The BOESEL official said the meeting would try to impress the European representatives about the 'resilience' of Bangladeshi labour force, who are hard working and loyal to their employers.
"We will try to reverse the popular notion about Bangladeshi workers," he said. "I think, some East European nations including Poland, Romania and Estonia offer great potentials," he added.
Officials said they would also urge diplomats to ease visa restrictions that hinder the increased labour exports to the European markets.
The move comes when Bangladesh's traditional overseas job markets have virtually faltered, under pressure of the deepening global economic crisis.
The UAE's Dubai, which became the top destination for the Bangladeshi working people in recent years, deported thousands of foreign workers after the global crisis struck the Emirates. Recruitment in Saudi Arabia, the country's biggest labour market, and Kuwait has remained almost suspended for years.
Malaysia and Singapore, the country's two other top job markets, also started sending back Bangladeshi workers, as the South-East Asian economic powerhouses had to face increasing joblessness. In early March, Malaysia cancelled 55,000 visas of Bangladeshis, who were to move there with jobs.