Ups and downs in manpower export
Syed Fattahul Alim | Friday, 13 March 2009
As the economic recession that started in the western hemisphere is gradually engulfing the rest of the developing world, recently its impact is being felt on Southeast Asia. Bangladesh, though it has not yet been sucked into the maelstrom of the recession in any direct fashion, the indirect impacts, however, are already visible. For example, Malaysia is an emerging tiger economy of Southeast Asia. So far, it was in the rather safer region. But that is no more. Since the demand for goods from the developing economies has nosedived in the Western world markets, the export from countries like Malaysia is also not remaining unaffected. Recently, the country's export has seen a 25 per cent plunge.
As a result, according to a forecast its export-oriented industries will have to cut some 45,000 jobs. And that situation in the Malaysian economy has been reflected immediately through the country's decision not to entertain the entry visas it issued for 55,000 Bangladeshi workers issued by its home ministry in 1997. The news is simply shocking for Bangladesh. The decision is no doubt cruel so far as the families of the Bangladeshi workers thus affected are concerned. This is particularly unfortunate because their visas had already been issued. These job seekers in Malaysia being thus confirmed about their employment in that country must have gone for all other related expenditures and other preparations before joining their jobs there. The development will, therefore, devastate the families whose members were issued those visas. At the same time, the failure to send those people to Malaysia will deprive the country of the foreign exchange they might have brought home. Or in other words, the recession has also affected Bangladesh's manpower export sector though in a roundabout way.
But the worries do not end with those Bangladeshi workers having lost their employment opportunities in Malaysia. For one has also to keep in mind that Malaysia already employs about 400, 000 workers from Bangladesh. So, any further downturn in Malaysian economy may finally affect their conditions, too. Has the government now in office in Bangladesh anything to do about the aforesaid Malaysian visa-related issue? Though the sudden reversal of their decision on the visas already issued to Bangladeshi workers will seriously affect many families in Bangladesh, the government here can only look for the goodwill of the friendly Malaysian government on humanitarian grounds in this regard. For the issue has to do with the economy of Malaysia and Bangladesh, though it is affected by said visa decision, can only request them to reconsider their decision from humanitarian angle.
But it is not only the developments in Malaysia that have brought chilling news for Bangladesh's manpower export sector. The oil-rich Middle East, where an overwhelming majority of the Bangladeshi workers find employment, is now reeling from the global recession in a direct fashion. The chief source of their income being oil export, the Middle Eastern nations thriving on it have been facing the worst time in their history as the price of oil has plummeted by 70 per cent. Oil market crash has severely affected their ongoing development work. Falling oil revenues has adversely impacted on the construction frenzy that they had been enjoying so far. Since long these countries have been providing jobs for millions of Bangladeshi workers. But the scenario is now undergoing a reversal. Bangladeshi workers are no more feeling secure about their jobs in those countries. So this is another manpower export front that is gradually becoming uncertain. However, the redeeming feature of the overseas job market for Bangladeshi workers is that they are generally employed in low-skill jobs. And the demand for jobs in this category will always remain despite the economic slumps in those countries. However, construction sector of the Gulf countries in particular is a very sensitive area where the main threats to our migrant workers are coming from. So the implications of these reverses in the Middle Eastern and Malaysian economies are liable to leave an adverse impact on the remittance flow, which contributes in a big way to our foreign exchange reserve.
To avert the danger, Bangladesh is already trying to seek job market for our workers in some non-traditional destinations such as in the Eastern European countries like Poland, Romania and so on.
However, it is also not a universal truth that one piece of bad news will always follow another. While the Malaysian manpower market has all of a sudden indicated to us the approaching calamity of widespread economic slump, a fresh breeze of hope has started to blow from the direction of the remote oil-rich North African country of Libya. After a decade of silence due to the sanctions imposed on the country by the US and the European Union, the country has again been able to open its doors to the rest of the world. For the sake of its development and growth, especially for building its physical infrastructure, the country will need to import a large number of workers from abroad. It may be noted here that, Bangladesh has been a traditional supplier of manpower to this country under different sectors ranging from unskilled to semi-skilled workers to professional positions that requires high level of skill like doctors, teachers, engineers and so on. So far, this country and its job market remained virtually closed to the rest of the world.
It has been learnt that the North African country will be recruiting between one hundred thousand and one million workers from abroad. Considering that, since traditionally Bangladesh has had a very warm and brotherly relationship with Libya, the recent opening up of that country's labour market should provide a fresh opportunity for the manpower export sector of Bangladesh. It is further heartening to learn that of the 11 countries that remain as the potential suppliers of workers to Libya, Bangladesh is enjoying a privileged position.
In the circumstances, the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment and Bangladesh's foreign mission in Libya have to be very active on the diplomatic front so that the opportunity created in that country might be translated into reality.
When the manpower sector, a big source of foreign currency earning, is thus going through ups and downs due to uncertainties in the labour market abroad, the manpower ministry needs to take an appropriate policy, both long and short term, to adjust to the emerging conditions. The composition of exportable manpower should be such that it can meet the demands involving a wide spectrum of skills and spread over as many categories as possible. Similarly, the market has also to be diversified as much as possible.
The vicissitudes of the manpower market will remain even when there is no recession. It is time appropriate strategies are developed to accommodate this fact into our manpower export policy. To this end, the government needs to provide necessary impetus to this sector like it is doing for other mainstream export sectors.
As a result, according to a forecast its export-oriented industries will have to cut some 45,000 jobs. And that situation in the Malaysian economy has been reflected immediately through the country's decision not to entertain the entry visas it issued for 55,000 Bangladeshi workers issued by its home ministry in 1997. The news is simply shocking for Bangladesh. The decision is no doubt cruel so far as the families of the Bangladeshi workers thus affected are concerned. This is particularly unfortunate because their visas had already been issued. These job seekers in Malaysia being thus confirmed about their employment in that country must have gone for all other related expenditures and other preparations before joining their jobs there. The development will, therefore, devastate the families whose members were issued those visas. At the same time, the failure to send those people to Malaysia will deprive the country of the foreign exchange they might have brought home. Or in other words, the recession has also affected Bangladesh's manpower export sector though in a roundabout way.
But the worries do not end with those Bangladeshi workers having lost their employment opportunities in Malaysia. For one has also to keep in mind that Malaysia already employs about 400, 000 workers from Bangladesh. So, any further downturn in Malaysian economy may finally affect their conditions, too. Has the government now in office in Bangladesh anything to do about the aforesaid Malaysian visa-related issue? Though the sudden reversal of their decision on the visas already issued to Bangladeshi workers will seriously affect many families in Bangladesh, the government here can only look for the goodwill of the friendly Malaysian government on humanitarian grounds in this regard. For the issue has to do with the economy of Malaysia and Bangladesh, though it is affected by said visa decision, can only request them to reconsider their decision from humanitarian angle.
But it is not only the developments in Malaysia that have brought chilling news for Bangladesh's manpower export sector. The oil-rich Middle East, where an overwhelming majority of the Bangladeshi workers find employment, is now reeling from the global recession in a direct fashion. The chief source of their income being oil export, the Middle Eastern nations thriving on it have been facing the worst time in their history as the price of oil has plummeted by 70 per cent. Oil market crash has severely affected their ongoing development work. Falling oil revenues has adversely impacted on the construction frenzy that they had been enjoying so far. Since long these countries have been providing jobs for millions of Bangladeshi workers. But the scenario is now undergoing a reversal. Bangladeshi workers are no more feeling secure about their jobs in those countries. So this is another manpower export front that is gradually becoming uncertain. However, the redeeming feature of the overseas job market for Bangladeshi workers is that they are generally employed in low-skill jobs. And the demand for jobs in this category will always remain despite the economic slumps in those countries. However, construction sector of the Gulf countries in particular is a very sensitive area where the main threats to our migrant workers are coming from. So the implications of these reverses in the Middle Eastern and Malaysian economies are liable to leave an adverse impact on the remittance flow, which contributes in a big way to our foreign exchange reserve.
To avert the danger, Bangladesh is already trying to seek job market for our workers in some non-traditional destinations such as in the Eastern European countries like Poland, Romania and so on.
However, it is also not a universal truth that one piece of bad news will always follow another. While the Malaysian manpower market has all of a sudden indicated to us the approaching calamity of widespread economic slump, a fresh breeze of hope has started to blow from the direction of the remote oil-rich North African country of Libya. After a decade of silence due to the sanctions imposed on the country by the US and the European Union, the country has again been able to open its doors to the rest of the world. For the sake of its development and growth, especially for building its physical infrastructure, the country will need to import a large number of workers from abroad. It may be noted here that, Bangladesh has been a traditional supplier of manpower to this country under different sectors ranging from unskilled to semi-skilled workers to professional positions that requires high level of skill like doctors, teachers, engineers and so on. So far, this country and its job market remained virtually closed to the rest of the world.
It has been learnt that the North African country will be recruiting between one hundred thousand and one million workers from abroad. Considering that, since traditionally Bangladesh has had a very warm and brotherly relationship with Libya, the recent opening up of that country's labour market should provide a fresh opportunity for the manpower export sector of Bangladesh. It is further heartening to learn that of the 11 countries that remain as the potential suppliers of workers to Libya, Bangladesh is enjoying a privileged position.
In the circumstances, the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment and Bangladesh's foreign mission in Libya have to be very active on the diplomatic front so that the opportunity created in that country might be translated into reality.
When the manpower sector, a big source of foreign currency earning, is thus going through ups and downs due to uncertainties in the labour market abroad, the manpower ministry needs to take an appropriate policy, both long and short term, to adjust to the emerging conditions. The composition of exportable manpower should be such that it can meet the demands involving a wide spectrum of skills and spread over as many categories as possible. Similarly, the market has also to be diversified as much as possible.
The vicissitudes of the manpower market will remain even when there is no recession. It is time appropriate strategies are developed to accommodate this fact into our manpower export policy. To this end, the government needs to provide necessary impetus to this sector like it is doing for other mainstream export sectors.