Plan to send 15 lakh workers abroad this year: Expat minister

Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed has said that the government is planning to send 15 lakh Bangladeshi workers abroad this year.

"The labour market is growing. A large labour market is emerging in China. Besides, workers are now going to Romania, Greece, and Italy, and we are also planning to send workers to Libya," he said at an event on Friday.

Speaking at the Sylhet, Chattogram, and Cumilla divisional organisational conference of the Diploma Engineers Association in Sylhet on Saturday, Imran Ahmed urged the would-be expatriates to improve their skills and follow the proper procedures for going abroad, reports UNB.

Bangladesh sent a record 11.25 lakh workers last year, surpassing the previous high of 10.08 lakh in 2017.

The record manpower export in 2022 was due to increased demand in some major destinations and the opening of some new markets, according to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment, and Training (BMET).

Despite a surge in manpower, there still remains a serious dearth in quality migration, as the number of unskilled labour migrants increased to 78.64% through November 2022 from 75.24% in the previous year.

Industry insiders have linked the rebound of overseas employment with the reopening of the Malaysian labour market, brighter Gulf economies buoyed by rising oil prices, and the normalisation of the Covid situation that allowed new aspirants to go to their respective destinations.

Besides, increasing the quota for Bangladeshi migrants in all Saudi firms to 40% from 25% has contributed to this record growth, they said.

They also expect the same outflow of workers in 2023, as employers in major sourcing countries including Saudi Arabia have already shown their high demand.

Overseas employment of Bangladeshis crossed the 10-lakh mark in 2017 but declined in the following years, bottoming out at 2.17 lakh in 2020 due to the pandemic-induced restrictions.

On average, the country sent 93,750 workers per month in 2022, and the number was around 60,000-70,000 in the pre-Covid period, Bureau data shows.

In December last year, a total of 95,988 workers migrated abroad. 

Saudi Arabia, the top destination for Bangladeshi migrants, generated 56% of all overseas jobs until November last year, followed by Oman, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, Malaysia, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan.

Md Ujjal Bakht, vice-president (Sylhet) of the Education Engineering Department Diploma Engineers' Association, Saroj Kumar Nath, joint secretary (Development II) of the Secondary and Higher Education Department, and Delwar Hossain Majumdar, chief engineer of the Education Engineering Department, were among others in the conference.