Libya gives glimmer of hope as manpower export plunges
Mushir Ahmed | Thursday, 12 March 2009
Libya brought a whiff of good news in manpower export as authorities launched a desperate search for new job destination for Bangladeshi workers, officials said Wednesday.
Labour and Employment minister said 1166 workers found jobs in the oil rich North African country in the first five days of March, which is double the number the country sent in the month of February.
"After many years, Libya has opened up its doors to Bangladeshi workers in bigger way," Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said.
"It's a very encouraging sign, especially when overseas jobs for Bangladeshi workers have become dearer due to the worsening global economic situation," he said.
The minister could not say how many workers Libya would hire in the coming months, but recruiting agents have put the figure to around 100,000 -1.0 million.
Isolated from the rest of the world by the West-led economic sanctions, Libya had to suspend hiring of workers for more than a decade.
But after the sanctions were lifted by the United States and the European Union, the country aggressively started massive spending on infrastructure and importing workers for its construction and oil and gas sectors.
"Libyan labour minister told us that they would hire one million workers from 11 countries and Bangladesh will be given top priority," said Golam Mostofa, the president of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agents (BAIRA).
"In the past few weeks, they have stepped up recruiting workers from Bangladesh. I hope Libyan recruitment would to some extent compensate the losses in Malaysia and United Arab Emirates," he said.
The opening of the North African market comes as manpower export from the country plunged by around 40 per cent in the last three months due to the global recession.
Some 135,000 Bangladeshi workers found jobs abroad between December and February, which was more than 240,000 during the same period last year.
Malaysia, which was the third largest employer of Bangladeshi workers after Saudi Arabia and the UAE, has suspended taking any workers as its exports slumped more than 25 percent.
In addition, a 70 per cent slump in oil prices meant that there are now fewer construction and industrial jobs available in the rich petroleum exporting countries of the Middle East.
The minister said the "signs are worrying" but not "alarming" what many experts would have liked to describe.
He said since taking over, the Awami League-led government has launched aggressive searches for new manpower export destinations.
"We are looking for new markets in the East European countries such as Romania, Bulgaria and Poland. Iraq is also a priority should security situation improve there," he said.
Labour and Employment minister said 1166 workers found jobs in the oil rich North African country in the first five days of March, which is double the number the country sent in the month of February.
"After many years, Libya has opened up its doors to Bangladeshi workers in bigger way," Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said.
"It's a very encouraging sign, especially when overseas jobs for Bangladeshi workers have become dearer due to the worsening global economic situation," he said.
The minister could not say how many workers Libya would hire in the coming months, but recruiting agents have put the figure to around 100,000 -1.0 million.
Isolated from the rest of the world by the West-led economic sanctions, Libya had to suspend hiring of workers for more than a decade.
But after the sanctions were lifted by the United States and the European Union, the country aggressively started massive spending on infrastructure and importing workers for its construction and oil and gas sectors.
"Libyan labour minister told us that they would hire one million workers from 11 countries and Bangladesh will be given top priority," said Golam Mostofa, the president of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agents (BAIRA).
"In the past few weeks, they have stepped up recruiting workers from Bangladesh. I hope Libyan recruitment would to some extent compensate the losses in Malaysia and United Arab Emirates," he said.
The opening of the North African market comes as manpower export from the country plunged by around 40 per cent in the last three months due to the global recession.
Some 135,000 Bangladeshi workers found jobs abroad between December and February, which was more than 240,000 during the same period last year.
Malaysia, which was the third largest employer of Bangladeshi workers after Saudi Arabia and the UAE, has suspended taking any workers as its exports slumped more than 25 percent.
In addition, a 70 per cent slump in oil prices meant that there are now fewer construction and industrial jobs available in the rich petroleum exporting countries of the Middle East.
The minister said the "signs are worrying" but not "alarming" what many experts would have liked to describe.
He said since taking over, the Awami League-led government has launched aggressive searches for new manpower export destinations.
"We are looking for new markets in the East European countries such as Romania, Bulgaria and Poland. Iraq is also a priority should security situation improve there," he said.