More Bangladeshis are getting white-collared jobs along with the blue-collared workers in the world market, particularly in Gulf region as the dynamics of migration is changing with time.
Of the total inward remittances to Bangladesh, 90% presently contributed by blue-collared workforce and remaining 10% are from white-collared professionals, said a top executive of Xpress Money, a global money transfer company based in the UK.
It is the second largest company in channeling remittance to Bangladesh. Its Vice President & Business Head Sudhesh Giriyan spoke to the Dhaka Tribune about how Bangladesh could boost remittance, the second largest foreign exchange earner after apparel exports for Bangladesh.
“Previously only blue-collared workers explored migration opportunities in the GCC and other Asian countries. However, with the increasing number of educated and English speaking citizens, Bangladeshis are now looking at the GCC and other countries for white-collared jobs such as retail or customer service,” he said in an e-mail interview.
According to the World Bank’s recent report on remittance, inflows to Bangladesh have been strong, facilitated by strong economic growth in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
Giriyan said over the past decade, there has been a boom in oil exploration and infrastructure sector in the GCC region. “This growth has fueled employment opportunities for Bangladeshi workforce.”
Beginning operations in 2003, Xpress Money has partnered with 30 out of 47 national and international banks in Bangladesh with over 9,000 agent locations across the country.
“We will also make more partnership with banks and other local institutions related with cash transaction for expanding our services in the country,” he said.
The executive emphasised the importance of using legal channels to send money home to secure the future of the beneficiaries. “Utilisation of unauthorised channels like Hundi involves huge risks and pitfalls. There are chances of middleman running away with people’s well-deserved money and it is difficult to track these miscreants. Also, these illegal channels pose a threat to the security of the nation,” he said.
Last year, the company had undertaken a nation-wide brand awareness activity at grass roots level to educate the
consumers about safe remittance practices and use of formal channels to remit
money back to the country. “We intend to replicate a similar campaign this year too,” said Giriyan.
About budgetary support for boosting remittance, he said the government can look at Pension schemes for Bangladeshi migrants once they retire and return back to their country.
He said here the government offers a rebate to the banks or money transfer operators and the customer is not charged for remitting money. Additionally the government can also start incentivising customers who use formal money transfer channels to further encourage legal and safe remittances, he added.
“The government can also look at pre-departure training centers to train migrants and educate them about the country where they intend to shift and provide them with a background of the work culture.”
Xpress Money has a thriving presence in more than 150 countries in five continents and has 170,000 agent locations across the world. It plans to expand global footprint to all the continents and be present in over 200 countries by the end of 2013.
The wage earners’ remittance inflow to Bangladesh grew by 12.6% in the just concluded fiscal year ended on June 30, according to data of the central bank.
Bangladeshi expatriates remitted $14.46bn in 2012-13 compared to $12.84bn a year ago.