Pragmatic manpower policy brooks no delay
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Shahiduzzaman Khan
IT is very encouraging to note that the government was going to formulate a policy for manpower export soon to make the entire process transparent and hassle-free. Labour, Employment and Expatriate Welfare Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, while addressing a meeting in the city last week, said a committee with the representatives of government, experts and Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agents (BAIRA) will be formed to go ahead with the plan.
The minister said he will also discuss the matter of formulation of the policy in the cabinet meeting and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was already aware of it. He pledged to set up Expatriate Welfare Bank which was a demand of BAIRA for quite a long time and assured the big BAIRA bosses that the government would not take over the job of manpower export from the recruiting agencies.
The minister said the government has also a plan to groom skilled manpower speedily. More training centres will be set up to train up workers to convert them to skilled ones. Currently, 38 technical training centres (TTC) across the country are working to train up nearly 50,000 workers each year and the number will soon be increased through ensuring district-level training facilities, the expatriate welfare minister disclosed.
What is surprising is that the country remained without a comprehensive manpower export policy even after 37 years of its liberation. A draft policy was prepared a few years ago and the policy-makers spent over two years just to discuss it. An official source said the policy is now at its final stage and will be formally announced very soon following inclusion of the views expressed by various ministries, organisations and stakeholders. It might take a few more months to officially announce the policy.
A comprehensive policy is needed to explore new markets for manpower export and retaining the existing ones. The initiative for such a policy was taken in 2003 but the process of finalising it is painstakingly slow. The draft has been prepared in accordance with the policies of other manpower exporting countries like Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. The policy is expected to help the ministry take measures for expanding Bangladesh's manpower export market.
The draft policy says its main objectives are to explore, promote and develop overseas employment opportunities through institutional coordination and cooperation among the relevant ministries and international organisations and establishing transparency and discipline in manpower export sector. Punitive action would be taken against expatriate Bangladeshi workers if found guilty of committing crimes, breaking discipline and calling strike in a host country. The action would include fines, blacklisting, and warning, disqualifying them for overseas employment and suspension for a certain period.
Formulation of a pragmatic manpower policy is very essential in view of the fact the economy of Bangladesh is largely dependent on the workers' remittances. Migrant workers send home a handsome amount of money every year which makes the economy rolling on a sound footing. Yet global economic recession has forced many workers to come back from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), mainly from Dubai. Migrant workers from Malaysia and Saudi Arabia are also returning. In fact, the extent of worker returns has increased in the last two months as the global financial crisis slows demand worldwide, forcing layoffs.
The recession hurts Middle Eastern economies like the UAE and its lavish trade and tourism hub in Dubai, which witnessed spectacular growth in the construction and real estate in the last six years, thanks to previous oil price surges. But the slide in oil prices is dampening overall demand in Middle Eastern countries, the biggest destination for Bangladeshi migrant workers.
Ghulam Mustafa, president of the BAIRA, expressed concerns over the number of returning workers. He said that the workers from Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Malaysia are coming back home at an alarming rate. A section of them have been retrenched due to the recession. Manpower recruiting agents feared nearly a 50 percent slump in manpower exports this year. The flow of inward remittances is likely to fall drastically this year, it is apprehended.
According to statistics, in South Asia, the total remittance inflow in 2007 was $44 billion, an increase of 10 percent from 2006 and 82 percent growth since 2002. India topped the list with an inflow of $27 billion in 2007, followed by Bangladesh ($6.56 billion), Pakistan ($5.99 billion), Sri Lanka ($2.7 billion) and Nepal ($1.7 billion). In the South Asia region, the cumulative average growth rate of remittances over the last five years is highest in Nepal (20.7 percent), followed by Bangladesh (18.1 percent), Sri Lanka (15.6 percent), India (11.4 percent) and Pakistan (11 percent). However, as per the World Bank classification, India and Sri Lanka are the Lower Middle Income Countries (LMCs) and Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan fall in the lower income group. Out of 49 low-income countries (LIC), Bangladesh ranked first in terms of inward remittances inflow, followed by Pakistan and Vietnam.
Last year migrants remitted some $9.0 billion, well over 10 per cent of the country's GDP, and remittances have been the backbone of the economy for the past few years, playing the key role in keeping families afloat through the rise in prices of essentials, especially in the rural areas. During the current fiscal, Bangladesh expatriates sent home a record US$6.148 billion in the first eight months marking a 27.01 per cent growth over the same period of the last fiscal. The remittances from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad were estimated at $784.47 million in February last, a fall by $74.56 million from the previous month. In January 2009, the remittance was worth $859 million, according to the central bank statistics.
While remittance is not the only source of development in a country, it does play a significant role. Almost all countries -- low, medium and high income -- target workers' remittances. The geo-political scenario also influences international labour mobility, and thereby remittance. The recipient country's economic situation and its relationships with wealthier countries matter. What also matters is the way these remittances are utilised in the home country.
Meanwhile, high cost of migration coupled with failure to explore new markets and the country's foreign missions' apathy towards emigrant workers are thwarting the promotion of manpower export and bringing reduction in benefits for the workers abroad. The government has not taken any significant initiative to explore new markets while manpower export to traditional markets like the Middle Eastern countries is declining. An unhealthy competition among the recruiting agencies is increasing the cost of migration. A worker now pays Tk 0.20 to 0.23 million for a job of a cleaner in Saudi Arabia at a salary of 350 Riyal (Tk 5,600) a month whereas the cost is Tk 0.14 to 0.17 million only a few months ago.
Similarly, South Korea, a lucrative job market for Bangladeshi workers, also identified high migration cost as the root cause for switching jobs and illegal overstaying of workers. A good number of Bangladeshi workers in Korea reportedly violated contracts by switching jobs or by migrating to Japan for higher salaries because they were desperate to earn more money to recover the huge amount they had paid to the recruiting agencies at home to emigrate. The government has failed to reduce the cost of migration to Korea that shot up to Tk 0.50 million, since it has no control over the recruiting agencies.
According to a study on manpower export potentials, Bangladesh needs to target EU countries, Australia and New Zealand for manpower export on a priority basis as these countries have high remittance potential but low presence of Bangladeshis. The report said, in the short and medium terms, Bangladesh should target occupations such as agriculture professionals, clerical and secretarial jobs, accountant, technicians, chefs and caterers, carpenters, masons, drivers, and electricians.. But, after establishing high-quality training institutes, the country should export doctors, nurses, financial experts, and managers in the long run, the report added.
Most of the Middle Eastern countries including Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE can now be compared with any developed country and mere proficiency in Arabic may not be enough to get jobs in those countries in the future. An adequate number of international-standard vocational and training institutes must be set up to groom the future workforce destined for the Middle East. Non-governmental organisations and private entrepreneurs can establish such institutes, which should be affiliated with similar institutes in the developed countries, with the government playing a facilitating role. Nearly 5.0 million Bangladeshis are now working abroad.
................................................................
szkhan@thefinancialexpress-bd.com
IT is very encouraging to note that the government was going to formulate a policy for manpower export soon to make the entire process transparent and hassle-free. Labour, Employment and Expatriate Welfare Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, while addressing a meeting in the city last week, said a committee with the representatives of government, experts and Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agents (BAIRA) will be formed to go ahead with the plan.
The minister said he will also discuss the matter of formulation of the policy in the cabinet meeting and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was already aware of it. He pledged to set up Expatriate Welfare Bank which was a demand of BAIRA for quite a long time and assured the big BAIRA bosses that the government would not take over the job of manpower export from the recruiting agencies.
The minister said the government has also a plan to groom skilled manpower speedily. More training centres will be set up to train up workers to convert them to skilled ones. Currently, 38 technical training centres (TTC) across the country are working to train up nearly 50,000 workers each year and the number will soon be increased through ensuring district-level training facilities, the expatriate welfare minister disclosed.
What is surprising is that the country remained without a comprehensive manpower export policy even after 37 years of its liberation. A draft policy was prepared a few years ago and the policy-makers spent over two years just to discuss it. An official source said the policy is now at its final stage and will be formally announced very soon following inclusion of the views expressed by various ministries, organisations and stakeholders. It might take a few more months to officially announce the policy.
A comprehensive policy is needed to explore new markets for manpower export and retaining the existing ones. The initiative for such a policy was taken in 2003 but the process of finalising it is painstakingly slow. The draft has been prepared in accordance with the policies of other manpower exporting countries like Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. The policy is expected to help the ministry take measures for expanding Bangladesh's manpower export market.
The draft policy says its main objectives are to explore, promote and develop overseas employment opportunities through institutional coordination and cooperation among the relevant ministries and international organisations and establishing transparency and discipline in manpower export sector. Punitive action would be taken against expatriate Bangladeshi workers if found guilty of committing crimes, breaking discipline and calling strike in a host country. The action would include fines, blacklisting, and warning, disqualifying them for overseas employment and suspension for a certain period.
Formulation of a pragmatic manpower policy is very essential in view of the fact the economy of Bangladesh is largely dependent on the workers' remittances. Migrant workers send home a handsome amount of money every year which makes the economy rolling on a sound footing. Yet global economic recession has forced many workers to come back from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), mainly from Dubai. Migrant workers from Malaysia and Saudi Arabia are also returning. In fact, the extent of worker returns has increased in the last two months as the global financial crisis slows demand worldwide, forcing layoffs.
The recession hurts Middle Eastern economies like the UAE and its lavish trade and tourism hub in Dubai, which witnessed spectacular growth in the construction and real estate in the last six years, thanks to previous oil price surges. But the slide in oil prices is dampening overall demand in Middle Eastern countries, the biggest destination for Bangladeshi migrant workers.
Ghulam Mustafa, president of the BAIRA, expressed concerns over the number of returning workers. He said that the workers from Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Malaysia are coming back home at an alarming rate. A section of them have been retrenched due to the recession. Manpower recruiting agents feared nearly a 50 percent slump in manpower exports this year. The flow of inward remittances is likely to fall drastically this year, it is apprehended.
According to statistics, in South Asia, the total remittance inflow in 2007 was $44 billion, an increase of 10 percent from 2006 and 82 percent growth since 2002. India topped the list with an inflow of $27 billion in 2007, followed by Bangladesh ($6.56 billion), Pakistan ($5.99 billion), Sri Lanka ($2.7 billion) and Nepal ($1.7 billion). In the South Asia region, the cumulative average growth rate of remittances over the last five years is highest in Nepal (20.7 percent), followed by Bangladesh (18.1 percent), Sri Lanka (15.6 percent), India (11.4 percent) and Pakistan (11 percent). However, as per the World Bank classification, India and Sri Lanka are the Lower Middle Income Countries (LMCs) and Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan fall in the lower income group. Out of 49 low-income countries (LIC), Bangladesh ranked first in terms of inward remittances inflow, followed by Pakistan and Vietnam.
Last year migrants remitted some $9.0 billion, well over 10 per cent of the country's GDP, and remittances have been the backbone of the economy for the past few years, playing the key role in keeping families afloat through the rise in prices of essentials, especially in the rural areas. During the current fiscal, Bangladesh expatriates sent home a record US$6.148 billion in the first eight months marking a 27.01 per cent growth over the same period of the last fiscal. The remittances from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad were estimated at $784.47 million in February last, a fall by $74.56 million from the previous month. In January 2009, the remittance was worth $859 million, according to the central bank statistics.
While remittance is not the only source of development in a country, it does play a significant role. Almost all countries -- low, medium and high income -- target workers' remittances. The geo-political scenario also influences international labour mobility, and thereby remittance. The recipient country's economic situation and its relationships with wealthier countries matter. What also matters is the way these remittances are utilised in the home country.
Meanwhile, high cost of migration coupled with failure to explore new markets and the country's foreign missions' apathy towards emigrant workers are thwarting the promotion of manpower export and bringing reduction in benefits for the workers abroad. The government has not taken any significant initiative to explore new markets while manpower export to traditional markets like the Middle Eastern countries is declining. An unhealthy competition among the recruiting agencies is increasing the cost of migration. A worker now pays Tk 0.20 to 0.23 million for a job of a cleaner in Saudi Arabia at a salary of 350 Riyal (Tk 5,600) a month whereas the cost is Tk 0.14 to 0.17 million only a few months ago.
Similarly, South Korea, a lucrative job market for Bangladeshi workers, also identified high migration cost as the root cause for switching jobs and illegal overstaying of workers. A good number of Bangladeshi workers in Korea reportedly violated contracts by switching jobs or by migrating to Japan for higher salaries because they were desperate to earn more money to recover the huge amount they had paid to the recruiting agencies at home to emigrate. The government has failed to reduce the cost of migration to Korea that shot up to Tk 0.50 million, since it has no control over the recruiting agencies.
According to a study on manpower export potentials, Bangladesh needs to target EU countries, Australia and New Zealand for manpower export on a priority basis as these countries have high remittance potential but low presence of Bangladeshis. The report said, in the short and medium terms, Bangladesh should target occupations such as agriculture professionals, clerical and secretarial jobs, accountant, technicians, chefs and caterers, carpenters, masons, drivers, and electricians.. But, after establishing high-quality training institutes, the country should export doctors, nurses, financial experts, and managers in the long run, the report added.
Most of the Middle Eastern countries including Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE can now be compared with any developed country and mere proficiency in Arabic may not be enough to get jobs in those countries in the future. An adequate number of international-standard vocational and training institutes must be set up to groom the future workforce destined for the Middle East. Non-governmental organisations and private entrepreneurs can establish such institutes, which should be affiliated with similar institutes in the developed countries, with the government playing a facilitating role. Nearly 5.0 million Bangladeshis are now working abroad.
................................................................
szkhan@thefinancialexpress-bd.com