Home ›› 17 Jul 2022 ›› Editorial
Amidst all the doom and gloom about impending economic recession plus the unease emanating from the ongoing conflict in Europe, news that Bangladesh is set to reach a record number in exporting manpower overseas is indeed hope inducing.
As per a TBP report, alluding to data of the Bureau of Manpower Export and Training (BMET), a total of 6, 15, 518 Bangladeshi workers have gone abroad in the first six months till June 30.
A total of 10, 08, 525 workers went abroad in 2017, the highest in a single year while the second highest worker sending year was 2008 when some 8, 75, 055 people went abroad as workers.
Manpower export has been a key foreign currency earner for this densely populated nation and Bangladesh has been sending workers overseas since the mid-1970s and the country’s still robust foreign currency reserve is attributed to remittances by migrant workers.
According to the report, Saudi Arabia received 385, 595 Bangladeshi workers which was the highest among the receiving countries followed by Oman that received 83,764 workers, United Arab Emirates 65, 351, Singapore 29, 093 and Qatar 10,199.
It’s universally known that the Middle East is the largest destination for Bangladeshi workers, playing a laudable role in the mammoth infrastructural development of gulf nations. Although Qatar is fifth in the list of worker destination, there is every possibility that more people will be recruited in view of the upcoming football Wold Cup this year.
The gulf nation will not only need blue collar workers but also security personnel, IT experts, language specialists plus trained people in the hospitality industry. This is where Bangladesh needs to tap into and diversify the skill sets of the people to be sent to Qatar.
In accordance with this aim, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs needs to hold immediate talks with Qatari counterparts and offer professionals and not just blue collar workers. Bangladeshi workers continue to be in high demand although there is a glass ceiling, which blocks professionals from going overseas to work.
In the past, developed gulf nations referred to the skill level of workers from India, Sri Lanka and other countries to justify taking white collar workers from them but now Bangladesh offers highly capable, tech savvy university graduates who are fluid in communication and IT. The market for white collar jobs, from teachers to communication experts to engineers should be open for competition.
Since all economies in the world are facing the brunt of the Ukraine War, saving money will the priority of all nations, developed and developing alike. Taking professionals from Bangladesh will reduce cost on one hand and, on the other, add a new dimension to the manpower export engagement. The process can be a fair one with permission given to nationals from other competing countries to showcase their skills and be selected through a fair process.
Malaysia market is expected to open soon after a hiatus although reportedly, a syndicate is trying to manipulate the South East Asian market. The first task is to break the racket and then sit with Malaysian authorities to explore ways to open possibilities for white collar workers. From the data of the first six months, we can be optimistic that in the remaining part of the year, the number of workers sent abroad will rise.
However, the world is going through a volatile period and therefore, it would be foolhardy to be complacent on hypothesis alone.
The priority of the government and its embassies overseas should be to seek out new markets, especially in South America and Africa.
There has been talk of Argentina opening its embassy in Dhaka, which needs to be pursued with a strategic manpower export planning by the Bangladesh government.
