Thailand said on Friday it values Bangladesh as a major sending country of high quality skilled, semiskilled and unskilled workforce, and will actively consider the issue of recruiting Bangladeshi workers in Thailand's relevant sectors, reports UNB.
Lieutenant General Decha Punyaban, Chairman of National Reform Council Committee on Labour Reform of Thai government, said these during a meeting with Bangladesh's Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam BSc in Bangkok.
The minister was on a two-day visit to Thailand to discuss potential recruitment of Bangladeshi workers there, particularly in deep sea, construction, manufacturing and service sectors.
Nurul Islam also requested for an early conclusion of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in Employment of Sea Fishery and Construction Workers between Bangladesh and Thailand.
The minister was accompanied by Bangladesh Ambassador to Thailand Saida Muna Tasneem and senior officials of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment.
From the Thai side, the chairman was accompanied by senior members and advisors of the 27-member Committee on Labour Reform under the Committee of the National Reform Council of the Royal Thai government.
During the meeting, the minister briefed the Thai side about the initiatives, taken by the present government to promote overseas workers' employment through a 'safe migration with dignity' policy, according to a message received in Dhaka.
He apprised the chairman of the 9.0 million Bangladeshi migrant workers that are currently employed in 160 countries across the world, and have earned commendable global recognition as a hard-working and law-abiding workforce.
Nurul Islam also informed him that Bangladesh maintains a database of 2.0 million aspirant migrant workers along with 71 technical training centres (TTC), from which the country has the readiness and capacity to deploy a large number of trained workers in various sectors in Thailand, including fishing, construction, agriculture, industry, manufacturing, IT and hospitality.
He praised the commitment of Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn towards promoting vocational training, and also commended the transformative reforms, particularly for improving health and safety standards of workers, undertaken by Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha's government.
The chairman of the Thai Labour Reform Committee praised the positive reputation enjoyed by Bangladeshi workers abroad, and highlighted the possibility of initiating technical cooperation between the vocational training institutes of the two countries.
He briefed the Bangladesh minister about legalisation of more than 1.6 million workers from the neighbouring ASEAN countries.
He also assured him of all possible support in connection with giving due consideration to concluding the MoU between Bangladesh and Thailand.
