Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury on Tuesday said Malaysia has reopened its labour market for Bangladeshi workers from Monday following the Prime Minister's recent foreign visit.
“The benefits of the Prime Minister's foreign tour have already started to materialize. Malaysia reopened its labour market for Bangladesh from July 6,” the minister told journalists at the Sylhet Circuit House.
Earlier in the day, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Brent T. Christensen paid a courtesy call on the minister at the circuit house.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, the minister said Bangladesh has been maintaining continuous discussions with different countries to create new overseas employment opportunities and expand existing labour markets since the present government assumed office.
“As part of those efforts, the Malaysian labour market has been reopened. We hope labour markets in other countries will also be opened gradually,” he said.
The minister said he and the US ambassador discussed Sylhet's overall development, the contributions of Bangladeshi expatriates, particularly the Sylheti diaspora in the United States, as well as ways to expand bilateral trade, boost investment, and strengthen cooperation on other issues of mutual interest.
He said Bangladesh and the United States have enjoyed long-standing friendly bilateral relations and are working closely to make the partnership stronger and more productive.
The minister expressed hope that such exchanges would further strengthen the friendly ties, economic cooperation and mutual development of the two countries.
Labour and Employment Secretary Md Abdur Rahman Tarafder, Acting Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet Pinky Saha and senior government officials were present during the meeting.