Bangladesh manpower export has experienced a boom over the last decade, when nearly 6.5 million workers went abroad with jobs and sending back $133.5 billion in remittances.
In 2017, more than 1 million people migrant workers travelled to different countries with jobs, reports BSS quoting an Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry official.
“The present government was able to send workers to 169 countries as a result of its successful labour diplomacy while the four-party alliance government sent workers to only 69 countries,” the report quoted the official.
According to the ministry, several initiatives are underway to explore new markets and the government has set up a number of technical training centres at district towns to develop skilled and semi-skilled workers.
Bangladeshi expatriates sent home $133.5 billion between 2009 and November 2018, says the central bank.
“Due to different steps taken by the government and the central bank, the inflow of remittance in the last couple of years showed an upward trend,” the BSS report quotes a senior Bangladesh Bank official.
The expatriate welfare ministry official says the government reduced migration cost as it is providing necessary training to workers to increase the export of skilled manpower. As a result, the remittance inflow increased gradually and the government declared the manpower export sector as a thrust sector.
“We are very careful about human trafficking… we are providing foreign language training to our overseas job seekers across the country,” said an official of the ministry.
Malaysia and Saudi Arabia have legalised many undocumented Bangladeshi workers, following the present government’s successful diplomatic measures.
Besides, the government signed G2G agreements with different countries including Hong Kong, Jordan, Bahrain and Malaysia for sending workers.
According to the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), the migration cost has been reduced to 10 percent against male and 7 percent against female workers during the last three years.