Staff Reporter :
Malaysia will provide working facility for Bangladeshi workers in all sectors and the workers will be taken under Government to Government agreement involving BAIRA [Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies].
A five-member delegation of Malaysia led by Secretary General of Human Resources Ministry Haji Saripuddin Bin Haji Kasim is now in Dhaka to discuss the issue.
The two countries will sign a memorandum of understanding [MoU] today [Tuesday] in this regard.
Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam BSC disclosed this after a meeting with the visiting Malaysian delegation here on Monday.
He said Malaysia recently had agreed to take 15 lakh Bangladeshi workers in the next three years. At present, the process is going on to involve private recruiting agencies with the process. “Kuala Lumpur is interested to take Bangladeshi workers under G2G plus agreement. Mainly we are now talking over the issue. Earlier, Malaysia took our workers under G2G mechanism. Now we can involve BAIRA with this process as per our desire. This is now called as G2G Plus system,” the minister said.
According to officials, the unskilled Bangladesh workers had earlier been taken for agriculture and other relevant fields in Malaysia. Now, skilled labourers, physicians, engineers, teachers and trained construction workers will get chance to go there.
After a long interval, Malaysia started to take workers from Bangladesh under G2G mechanism in 2013. But it did not get wide response from Bangladeshi workers as Kuala Lumpur showed interest to take workers only for its farming land.
In this backdrop, the tendency to go to Malaysia through illegal way had been developed and several died or trapped in risky wooden boat journey in the last few months.
“Malaysian government is not interested to work with any private organizations. And this time they did not come here with such proposal. However, we hope the workers will start going to Malaysia by next month through G2G Plus system,” the minister said elaborating the deal with Malaysia.
He said, “It will need hardly Tk 36,000-37,000 to send a single worker to Malaysia through Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training [BMET]. However, it may take highest Tk 60,000, if a worker is sent through private firm.’
The expatriate minister said that the workers would be selected from the database prepared by the government for manpower exporting.
Earlier, on June 24, Malaysian Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that his country would start recruiting five lakh registered workers from Bangladesh soon. The number will gradually increase to 14-lakh.
According to the source, the Malaysia government will primarily take 5 lakh workers from Bangladesh. The other workers will be brought gradually.
Meanwhile, the visiting Malaysian delegation led by Haji Saripuddin Bin Haji Kasim called on Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali in the Foreign ministry yesterday.
During the meeting, Saripuddin informed the FM that Malaysia wants to fulfill a significant portion of the demand for extra work force from Bangladesh. He also mentioned that Malaysia has a plan to declare Bangladesh as a ‘source country for labour force’ officially.
Saripuddin briefed the foreign minister the outcome of the 6th Joint Working Group meeting, held on Monday at the Expatriates’ welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry, including ‘G to G Plus’ agreement for recruitment of Bangladeshi workers.
He also stated that Malaysia has opened all of its sectors, including construction and services.
Mahmood Ali apprised the secretary general various initiatives taken by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the welfare of Bangladesh workers employed abroad, including the Overseas Employment Bank.
