Home ›› 16 Nov 2021 ›› Front
Bangladesh has requested the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to issue work visas for its citizens by lifting the current restriction.
The request was made in the fifth session of the Joint Commission meeting between the two countries in Dhaka on Monday.
At present, Bangladeshis can travel to the UAE on a visit visa. Once there, they can obtain permission and start working.
But the Bangladesh government wants the UAE to issue work visas directly for Bangladeshi workers as it did in the past.
Economic Relations Division (ERD) officials said Bangladesh during the meeting had also requested the Gulf nation to recruit some skilled and semi-skilled doctors, nurses, and IT professionals for expanding bilateral cooperation and facilitating technology transfer.
“We made the requests, but they (the UAE) did not give any decision,” a senior ERD official told The Business Post.
The meeting was co-chaired by Bangladesh Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal and Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, minister of state of the UAE’s foreign affairs and international cooperation ministry.
It was held in a hybrid (face-to-face and virtual) format where both leaders joined virtually. It was attended by high-level government officials from ministries and relevant institutions of both countries.
“We also requested the UAE for granting Bangladeshi products duty-free quota-free access and boost their investment here. We have sought financial support in hotel-motel and pharmaceutical sectors,” the ERD official said.
In September, Bangladesh Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed during a visit to the UAE hailed the decision of their government to resume work visas for Bangladeshi expatriates after nine years.
He termed this a huge relief for the Bangladeshi workforce to benefit from the UAE’s job opportunities, reported Gulf Today.
At Monday’s meeting, Kamal said over half a million Bangladeshi expatriates were providing services in various sectors in the UAE at present.
He said there were huge possibilities in different sectors of the Middle Eastern country to import professional, skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled manpower from Bangladesh.
Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training data shows the UAE recruited some 2.37 million Bangladeshi workers till September this year.
The UAE is one of the key destinations for Bangladeshi workers. Many non-resident Bangladeshis are working there and sending a large amount of remittance every year.
The two sides reviewed issues in various areas of bilateral cooperation, including trade; economic development; labour, employment, and consular relation; civil aviation; tourism and culture; investment; power, energy, and mineral resources; ICT; education; science and technology; marine environment and development; agriculture; and health services and education.
An agreed minute was signed after fruitful discussions. The two team leaders virtually signed the agreement on behalf of their respective countries. Both sides also agreed to hold the sixth session of the meeting in Abu Dhabi. The date of the session will be set later.
