Bangladesh's migrant workers have been an integral component of our economic growth, helping working class people find employment and bring in a significant amount of remittance per year.
While illegal migrant workers remain an issue to a certain extent, it is encouraging to know that Italy -- one of our existing migrant destinations -- is keen on recruiting more skilled manpower from Bangladesh.
During a recent visit with the prime minister, the Italian ministers in attendance shared their interest in employing more migrant workers legally. The premiere also urged the Italian representatives to legalize existing undocumented skilled labour in order to maximize their contribution to the nation.
This is certainly a welcome development. Not only should we find ways to send more of our skilled labour abroad through legal channels in order to ensure proper employment opportunities for as many of our eligible workers as possible, it is also imperative that we find more destinations that have a demand for the skills these workers offer.
Bangladesh has an abundance of resources -- its manpower being an integral part of that -- and for us to be able to continue the steady growth that we have demonstrated over the last decade, it is vital that we design policies and viable methods to train our working population to become an attractive addition to foreign workforces.
We must also work towards establishing the safety and proper treatment of our migrant workers abroad, the lack of which unfortunately continues to be a matter of concern at present.
Bangladesh still has some ways to go to achieve the goals it has set for itself, and expanding our migrant workers' skills and reach can aid significantly in the process.