United Arab Emirate (UAE) has agreed to consider recruitment of trained Bangladeshi construction workers, according to a press release of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment of Bangladesh, issued here on Thursday.
Referring to a meeting between Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam and Adviser of Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation of UAE Alex Zammami, the release said that they discussed elaborately the issues of recruiting Bangladeshi workers and came to an understanding of considering the matter.
They met on the sidelines of the 5th ministerial meeting of the Colombo Process, held today in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. Islam represented Bangladesh at the meeting, which focused this year on wellbeing of and value addition to the global labour migration.
At the bilateral meeting with the UAE high-up, Islam highlighted the government’s initiatives for skill development of the Bangladesh workers who want to get jobs in overseas market.
At the meeting, they agreed that Bangladesh would provide necessary training to the prospective construction workers before sending them to UAE. They also had discussion on a work plan to this effect.
Visas for Bangladeshis have not been issued for the past three years, except to women coming to work in domestic positions. The UAE, however, opened a visa office in Dhaka last December, giving a positive signal of hiring Bangladeshi workers in a large-scale.
Islam also held separate meetings with Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Employment Thalatha Athukorala and Director General of International Organization for Migration (IMO) William Lacy Swing on issues of migration and overseas employment.
Earlier, the Bangladesh minister attended the ministerial meeting of the Colombo Process when he highlighted the government’s initiatives for workers’ skill development and ensuring safety, security and welfare of the expatriate Bangladeshis.
Established in 2003, Colombo Process is a regional consultative process on the management of overseas employment and contractual labour for countries of origins in Asia. Ministers of 11 member countries participated in the 5th ministerial meeting, held with Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Employment Thalatha Athukorala in the chair.
Besides Bangladesh, the members include Afghanistan, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, India, Nepal, Philippines and Thailand.
