The South Korean ambassador in Dhaka has assured the Bangladesh government of renewing its manpower recruitment contract as the current deal expires in mid-June.
The assurance came when South Korean ambassador Lee Yun Young on Wednesday met Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment (EWOE) minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain in the city.
After the meeting, the minister said he has discussed issues relating to manpower recruitment with the Korean envoy. The two countries have agreed to renew the Memorandum of Understanding shortly.
In every two years, the MoU is being renewed by Bangladesh and South Korea.
Mr Hossain said the new issues on labour recruitment process will be incorporated into the MoU.
Responding to a query, the minister said if workers can prove their efficiency at their job places, South Korea will recruit more Bangladeshis.
He also said the labour-receiving country has already increased manpower recruitment quota for Bangladeshis.
The minister said there is no valid reason behind the agitation by a section of Korea-bound workers.
He, however, said if the aspirant job seekers are not selected by the Korean employers, the government has nothing to do in this regard.
They are trying to reduce botheration of the candidates so that they are not forced to wait for indefinite period, he said.
If the non-recruited candidates list is eliminated from the job roster, the problem will no longer exist, he added.
The minister also said a section of workers are staying illegally after the expiry of the contract period, which creates a negative impact on the market.
They will apply effective technique to send back the workers home upon expiry of the job contract.
The South Korean ambassador said they are trying to improve the Employment Permit System (EPS) system.
Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) Director General Begum Shamsun Nahar, among others were present at the press briefing.
Some 10,500 Bangladeshi workers have so far got jobs in South Korea through a government-to-government initiative under the EPS since 2008
