Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh and Malaysia signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) over the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers, effective for five years.
Bangladesh’s Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad and Malaysian Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan inked the MoU on Sunday.
As per the MoU, Bangladeshi workers will get several amenities in the country.
Malaysian employers will have to arrange housing or accommodation facilities for the Bangladeshi workers as stipulated under the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act of the country.
They will also bear every expenditure needed for the workers including plane fare, visa fees, corona PCR tests and other medical check-up fees, quarantine fees, insurance fees, return flight of are and similar others.
M Saravanan said in a statement that the implementation of the MoU will be regulated by a Joint Working Group that will comprise members from both countries.
Bangladeshi workers will go to the country after three years of pause.
Malaysian Minister Saravanan said that as of November 30, a total of 326,669 Bangladeshi nationals were working in Malaysia, with the majority of them being employed in the manufacturing sector (111,694) and construction sector (136,897).
He said the inking of the MoU is expected to meet the urgent need for foreign workers, including in the plantation sector, with the Cabinet having already approved 32,000 of them via special exemption.
In line with the decision of the Cabinet meeting on December 10 to allow foreign workers to be recruited for all sectors, he said the standard operating procedures (SOPs) on the entry of foreign workers have been fine-tuned and improved.
