Govt to sign deals with new countries: Minister

The government is working to sign agreements with potential new countries to export manpower, Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad told parliament on Monday.

“At present, the process is underway to sign agreements with Libya, Malta, Albania, Romania and Serbia,” he said in response to a question from the ruling party MP Habibur Rahman.

Responding to a question from another Awami League MP, Nurunnabi Chowdhury, the minister said that the government disbursed Tk 2,081.36 crore in various types of immigration loans to 1,14,521 migrants till June 13 this year since the establishment of Probashi Kallyan Bank.

He also told the parliament that 10,74,552 Bangladeshi workers went abroad to work till June 15 in the current FY2022-23, marking a 15.59 per cent rise.

Some 9,07,007 people had gone abroad during the same period till June 15, 2022, in FY2021-22, Imran added.

He shared the data while answering a question from ruling party MP Ali Azam during the question-answer session.