B’desh, Kuwait agree to bolster labour migration co-op

Bangladesh and Kuwait have agreed to formulate a cooperation agreement on manpower (2000) and form a Joint Working Group under the deal.
"Both sides have also agreed to work together to establish centres of excellence for Kuwait-bound workers in Bangladesh," said State Minister for Foreign Affairs M ShahriarAlam.
He made the disclosure after a meeting with Hend SB Al Subaih, the Minister of Social Affairs and Labour and the Minister of State for Planning and Development of Kuwait, at Kuwait parliament on Tuesday, reports UNB.
At the meeting, the Kuwait side also assured the Bangladesh delegation of addressing various challenges being faced by the Bangladesh community in Kuwait.
The state minister urged the Kuwait government to hire more Bangladeshis, particularly professionals, skilled and semi-skilled workers.
The Kuwaiti minister assured the Bangladesh side of looking into the matter positively.
Mr Alam deeply appreciated the government of Kuwait for hosting a large number of Bangladesh workers in Kuwait and for recruiting the increased number of Bangladeshis in the last two years. He thanked the Kuwait side for the ongoing general amnesty declared by the Kuwait government, providing the irregular migrant workers an opportunity to get regularised.
About the recent media report on imposing ban on recruitment of workers from Bangladesh, the Kuwaiti minister clarified that there is no ban or restrictions on any category of work visa that was processed by the Labour Ministry of Kuwait.
However, the Interior Ministry issues visas for domestic helpers in favour of Kuwaiti individuals, which are known as category 20 visa.
As gathered, Kuwait authorities have observed some irregularities in this sector and imposed temporary restrictions on the issuance of such visas to review and streamline the sector.
The state minister appreciated the leading role of Kuwait in extending humanitarian assistance to the forcibly-displaced Rohingya people who took shelter in Bangladesh.
Hend, within her capacity as the Minister of Social Affairs and the State Minister for Planning and Development, assured Bangladesh of increased assistance through the charitable organisations of Kuwait working in Bangladesh and through the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development.
Earlier in the morning, the State Minister had a meeting with the Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development at its headquarters in Kuwait City while they agreed to finalise the loan agreement for financing the Urban Infrastructure Improvement Projects for 51 municipalities in the northern area of Bangladesh at the soonest possible time.
The state minister also had a meeting with the Secretary-General of Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) at its Secretariat in Kuwait while the ACD Secretary-General recalled the representation of Bangladesh by the State Minister to the 2nd ACD Summit held in Bangkok in October 2016.
ShahriarAlam was in Kuwait on a two-day official visit at the invitation of the Deputy Foreign Minister of Kuwait and they held bilateral talks on Tuesday.