Export of Bangladeshi workers during the January-June period of this calendar year posted over 250% growth over the same period from the previous year, according to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Trading (BMET.)
According to BMET data, Bangladesh exported a record 615,518 workers to overseas countries during the period of the January-June period of the current calendar year as against 243,807 workers during the same period last year.
Saudi Arabia was the top destination of Bangladeshi workers with 385,595 workers (over 62.65% of the market share) followed by Oman with 83,764 workers (13.61%), UAE with 65,351 workers (10.62%), Singapore with 29,093 (4.73%), Jordan with 8,628 workers (1.40%), Qatar with 4,496 (1.55%), Kuwait with 6,310 workers (1.03%), Italy with 757 workers (0.12%) and UK with 144 workers (0.03%), according to BMET data.
Bangladesh exported a total of 111,539 workers to different countries during June, as against 77,421 in the previous month.
As the Russia-Ukraine war began February, the conflict may slow down recruitment of workers on grounds of high cost of living and possible social unrest, said a leading manpower exporter while talking to this correspondent.
Bangladesh exported a total of 1,008,525 workers in 2017, the highest number in one year, during the last 50 years.
With Malaysia set to reopen soon after visit of Malaysian Human Resources Minister M Saravanan to Bangladesh recently, Bangladesh can export some 1-1.2 million workers, and surpass the previous highest record in exporting labour to overseas countries, based on the current statistics, said SM Zillur Rahman, chairman of Rahman Group, and former director of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI).
As labour export gains momentum in 2022, the government should also devise mid and long-term strategies to send more skilled workers abroad since some closed labour markets are expected to reopen later this year, he also said.
Rahman also mentioned that mass vaccination of the population also helped Bangladesh attain the present momentum in labour export.
Economies of major Gulf countries and Southeast Asian countries are also getting back on the right track that also help to get present momentum, he opined.
Bangladesh exported 700,159 workers in 2019, 734,181 in 2018 and 1,008,525 workers in 2017.
Proper training of Bangladeshi workers is important on some issues to regain labour markets in Qatar and Kuwait, as some young Bangladeshis engage themselves in crime to become rich overnight. Though the number of Bangladeshis engaging in crime is less than 0.002%, the negative incidents are highlighted as the crime law is relaxed in Qatar, Kuwait, UAE and Oman compared to the strict laws in Saudi Arabia , said a person who works in the mission of a Gulf country in Dhaka.
As the pandemic has improved in recent times, the government should plan to send more skilled workers abroad this year, since some closed labour markets are expected to reopen this year, according to a member of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA).
Ali Haider Chowdhury, former secretary general of BAIRA, told this correspondent that the UAE has opened its labour market to Bangladeshis and the labour export to this Gulf market may reach 50,000 next year.
Bangladesh exported a total of 93 workers to Kuwait in 2021, 1744 workers in 2020, 12,299 in 2019 and 27,637 workers in 2018. Meanwhile, Bangladesh exported 5,207 workers in 2021, 3,608 workers and 50,292 workers to Qatar.
Bangladeshi workers received a record $22,070.87 million as remittance during 2021 as against $21,752.27 million in 2020, a 1.46% rise in the just concluded year, according to the statistics of BMET.
Bangladesh has become the 8th largest remittance-receiving country and the 6th largest migrant-sending country in the world, according to the World Migration Report 2022.
The pandemic situation has improved in Asia after successful vaccination in major labour-importing countries. The economies of Gulf countries and Southeast Asian countries are also on the right track after the pandemic hits the global economies, said a leader of BAIRA.
