Staff Reporter :
Some 10,000 Bangladeshi workers will reach Malaysia in batches within two weeks, according to a spokesman for the human resources ministry.
Khair Razman Mohamed Annuar, the Malaysian ministry’s Deputy Secretary-General in Charge of operations, told the Free Malaysian Times (FMT), a Malaysian newspaper, this came under a government-to-government agreement for a one-off labour intake.
He said the 25 Bangladeshi recruiting agencies (BRAs) appointed for the recruitment of workers had nothing to do with the scheme, according to the FMT report.
“This one-off bilateral cooperation involves the recruitment agency under the government of Bangladesh,” he said, adding, “It’s simply to expedite the intake of foreign labour.”
Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL), a state-owned recruiting agency, will work to send the workers to the country to meet up Malaysia’s foreign worker’s demand.
FMT has seen circulars issued by the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) and the Malaysian Palm Oil Association confirming the one-off recruitment.
According to the MEF circular, at least 4,200 of the 10,000 workers are still available for recruitment. The ministry has allocated 2,100 of the total for MEF members.
Supplementary documents detail the recruitment process involving the labour and immigration
departments, the Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur and the Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL), a government-owned recruitment agency under the country’s Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry.
In a letter to the High Commissioner dated September 20, BOESL said the workers would be sent to Malaysia within two weeks.
The Malaysian Cabinet approved the one-off recruitment scheme on September 14.
Malaysia and Bangladesh signed a memorandum of understanding last December after Putrajaya decided to appoint the 25 Bangladeshi recruitment agencies. Under that agreement, Malaysia received its first batch of workers last month.
