Seoul to recruit 7000 Bangladeshis by 2009
September 12, 2008
South Korea will recruit over 7000 skilled and semi skilled workers from Bangladesh in the next 16 months, the country’s ambassador told the FE on Monday.
Suk-Bum Park said around 3000 Bangladeshi would get jobs in the East Asian economic giant this year while the rest in 2009.
“We have growing employment opportunities in the country’s construction, textile, fisheries, agriculture, electronics and machinery sectors,” Mr. Park said.
“We’ll recruit around 3000 workers under the first ‘Employment Permit System (EPS)’ system this year. In 2009, the number of recruitment will be around 4000,” he said.
Asia’s fourth largest economy has already recruited more than a thousand Bangladeshi under the newly launched ‘Employment Permit System (EPS)’ system, with salary starting from Tk85,000 a month.
Officials said under the EPS, South Korea will recruit 50,000 skilled manpower from 14 countries, including Bangladesh, to make up for its growing shortages of labour force in the country.
“We need huge number of overseas workers as the population growth in South Korea has become stagnant. There are jobs available in almost every sector,” Mr. Park said.
The ambassador said his government has launched the EPS to help the local companies recruit skilled manpower in a transparent process and also to protect the rights of the overseas workers.
Under the EPS, an overseas worker has to enlist his name online, pass Korean language proficiency test and prove his skill for the desired job.
Human Resources Development office of the Korean labour ministry conduct the selection process. Once selected a Bangladesh worker will have to bear only air travel cost, which is around US$850 dollar.
The EPS was launched after Seoul and Dhaka signed an agreement, paving the way for recruitment of skilled Bangladeshi workers by South Korean private companies.
The agreement protects the interest and rights of Bangladeshi workforce in South Korea, where around 18,000 Bangladeshis are now employed and the new deal will facilitate employment of another 10,000 workers within 2010.
JITCO offers help to export manpower to Japan
August 27, 2008
Dhaka and Tokyo on Monday signed a new loan agreement of 6.96 billion yen equivalent to $65 million for emergency disaster damage rehabilitation project.
The Bangladesh foreign affairs adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury and his Japanese counterpart Masahiko Koumura signed the deal on behalf of their respective governments after their bilateral meeting.
Iftekhar is now in Japan on a four-day tour.
The rehabilitation project with the loan will be launched following the signed agreement, said a Japanese embassy release. The loan is provided as co-financing with Asian Development Bank.
The objective of the project is to support quick restoration of economic and social activity in the areas, damaged by the floods in 2007 and cyclone Sidr, through providing speedy disbursement type of import financing for essential agricultural commodities as well as rehabilitating and reconstructing damaged public infrastructures and thereby contributing to sustainable economic growth.
The Government of Japan believes that the quick disbursement component, amounting to 2,965 million yen (equivalent to Tk 1.89 billion or $27.7 million), will help the Government of Bangladesh meet immediate financial requirement for recovery from the flood and cyclone damages and purchase essential food commodities over the next few months.
In addition, Japanese government expects that disaster-resistance design to be adopted in rehabilitating and reconstructing infrastructures will contribute to mitigation of damage from future recurrent floods and cyclones.
Meanwhile, Japan International Training Cooperation Organisation has assured that it will facilitate the manpower export to Japan from Bangladesh.
JITCO president Toshio Takano gave the assurance when the Bangladesh foreign adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury called on him at his office in Tokyo Monday morning, said a release of the foreign ministry.
The meeting decided that JITCO would organise visits by Japanese recruiting firms to Bangladesh and work with the expatriates welfare and overseas employment ministry.
Quoting the adviser the release said only 12 trainees from Bangladesh came to Japan in the past. ‘This is not satisfactory. Now Bangladesh has a huge potential to satisfy the demand for workers in Japan. JITCO can provide language training in centres already existing in Bangladesh.’
Apart from Toshio Takano, senior vice-president of JITCO Takashi Kamitani, Bangladesh ambassador to Tokyo Ashraf-ud-Doula, Japanese ambassador to Dhaka Masahiko Inoue and director general of Far East Wing of the foreign affairs ministry Shahidul Islam were present at the meeting.
Bangladesh’s remittance from overseas jobs to fall
August 27, 2008
Bangladesh’s manpower export and the remittance from it could come down in the next two years as major labour markets in the Gulf region and Malaysia have banned fresh recruitment or reduced quotas, said a newspaper.
Quoting experts, the Daily Star said the government’s target for this year to reach 900,000 recruits for overseas employment was unlikely to be met.
Economists suggest immediate actions fearing that this trend will soon hit the overall annual remittance from manpower export that is the second highest after the garment exports.
‘We may not feel the blow of the bans or cut in overseas employment immediately, but after two to three years, remittance will definitely dry up if no major changes take place,’ warned Syed Ashraf Ali, former executive director of Bangladesh Bank.
‘The government should make overseas jobs cost-effective. Because of bad competition sponsored by manpower exporters, workers pay too much money. This should be addressed,’ said M.G. Kibria of Morgan State University, who recently conducted a study on Bangladesh’s manpower export and remittance.
Around five million Bangladeshis are working abroad. Of them, about three million are living in the Gulf and sending approximately 70 percent of the remittance.
The number of Bangladeshis working abroad during 2000-05 ranged between 180,000 to 250,000, while about 380,000 workers went abroad in 2006 and 832,000 in 2007 seeking jobs, according to the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training.
Bangladesh also witnessed good growth of remittance, which was $1.88 billion in 2000-01 financial year and it went up to $5.97 billion in 2006-07. In the same year, the country received $1.73 billion from Saudi Arabia, $680.7 million from Kuwait and $80 million from Bahrain.
But from May 27 this year, Bahrain stopped issuing work permits to Bangladeshi nationals, except the professionals. Things are no different in Saudi Arabia also from where thousands of Bangladeshi nationals had to leave after the kingdom unofficially stopped renewing residential permits to them.
Kuwait stopped hiring manpower from Bangladesh in late 2006 on grounds that Bangladeshis resort to crimes, while Malaysia stopped issuing fresh visas in October last year following problems created by Malaysian employers and recruiting agencies on both sides.
Though around 400,000 workers were sent to Malaysia, serious problems of cheating, exploitation and underpayment have been reported. Cheated, around 2,000 of them returned home in last one year.
Syed Ashraf Ali, who has recently conducted a study on overseas employment and remittance for the Asian Development Bank, said the recent events taking place in Bangladesh’s labour markets were a blow to the overseas employment sector.
‘If there is no outflow of workers and if expatriates working for years are forced to return home, inflow of remittance will automatically come down,’ he said.
The government’s most important task should be to train potential migrants as per the requirements of the labour-receiving countries and to strongly check irregularities and fraudulent practices.
‘Remittance is like a goldmine for Bangladesh. It plays a key role for stability in balance of payment and mitigating unemployment problems here,’ said economist Atiar Rahman, chairman of Unnayan Samannay, a research organisation.
‘Banning or curtailing recruitment of Bangladeshis in the tested countries will definitely have major negative impact on our economy. We will be in deep crisis if this source of remittance is destroyed,’ said Rahman.
‘Today’s problems are actually part of the failure of governance,’ he added.
The Daily Star Sunday said in an editorial that Bangladesh missions should have database of all the workers abroad and should respond to the problems immediately.
Russia looks to Bangladesh for garment expertise
July 20, 2008
First batch of skilled worker expect to leave in next two months
Skilled Bangladeshi textile workers are being hired to work in Russia, further evidence of Bangladesh’s growing status as a world leader in garment expertise.
Abdul Matin Chowdhury, secretary to the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, said 60 skilled workers will go to Russia in the first batch within the next two months. More could soon follow, he added.
Although garment industry leaders have previously complained of a shortage of skilled labour in Bangladesh, yesterday they welcomed the Russian initiative as proof of the strong development and international competitiveness of the local garment sector.
Read more
Kingfisher plans to operate flights to Bangladesh
July 20, 2008
Kingfisher Airlines, a major private airline in India, is planning to launch its flights to Bangladesh by October this year, sources at the aviation industry said.
It will initially operate its aircraft to two destinations in Bangladesh.
Kingfisher has taken necessary preparations including hiring of local manpower to launch the flights from Kolkata to Dhaka and Chittagong said a senior official who is working with the local office at Banani in the city told the FE Wednesday.
Kingfisher, a brand of United Breweries, mainly popular for liquor and beverage industry in India, launched its aviation business in India in 2005.
Vijay Mullaya, UB Chairman and also a liquor baron in India, has around 55 aircraft mostly Airbus.
Local office sources said the Kingfisher airline is likely to operate two flights daily, one in the morning and another in the evening, between Kolkata and Dhaka from October.
For the Kolkata-Chittagong route, Kingfisher has planned three flights a week.
At present, Air India and India’s another private sector airline Jet Air operate flights in Dhaka-Kolkata route.
Besides, Indian government-owned Air India’s economy carrier Air India Express announced that it would operate six flights a week from Dhaka to Kolkata from July 20.
Among the Bangladeshi carriers, Biman Bangladesh, GMG Airlines operate flights between Kolkata and Dhaka while United Airways, a venture by UK-based expatriates, is going to fly to Kolkata from the end of this month.
Nazrul Islam, an official of private GMG Airlines, said operating of more Indian carriers in the routes might intensify competition but that would not be a threat for Bangladeshi airlines.
‘If Bangladeshi airlines can ensure quality services for their passengers, no newcomer is a threat to them,’ said the executive of GMG that has interline agreement with Kingfisher.
Aviation industry people predicted that Kingfisher might have eye on the passengers who fly from Dhaka to middle-east and western destinations.
Bangladesh’s manpower export reduces as international demands drop
April 4, 2008
High cost of migration coupled with reduction of international demands are thwarting the promotion of manpower export of Bangladesh.
The country’s manpower export to traditional markets like the Middle East countries is declining and an unhealthy competition among the recruiting agencies is increasing the cost of migration, The Daily Star reported Sunday. Read more
Bangladeshi workers to join jobs in Feb: Korean envoy
January 29, 2008
Korean language tests essential for recruitement :
The South Korean ambassador in Dhaka, Suk-Bum Park, on Sunday observed that recruitment of Bangladeshi workers in his country depends on how authorities of Dhaka do the preparatory work.
?As we do not have any pre-determined quota for recruiting Bangladeshi nationals under the Employment Permit System, the number of workers we will take depends on how the BOESL deals with this,? he said after the signing ceremony at the lone public recruiting agency?s office.
In March South Korea officially announced that it would recruit 10,000 overseas workers from four countries ? Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, and Kyrgyzstan ? in the 2007-2008 period under the Employment Permit System.
A deal styled ?Service Commitment Agreement? was signed between the two countries for recruitment of Bangladeshi workers under Korea?s EPS for foreigners.
Mahbubur Rahman, managing director of the Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Ltd, and Kim Yong Dal, president of the Human Resources Development under the Korean labour ministry, signed the agreement on behalf of their governments.
When he was asked when the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers would begin, the top Korean envoy said that it was too early to answer that question, but he hinted that the first batch of Bangladeshi workers would join their jobs in Korea by February.
Abdul Matin Chowdhury, expatriates? welfare and overseas employment secretary who was also present at the signing ceremony, said that the names of aspirant Bangladeshi workers who had passed the Korean language test would be sent to the HRD in Korea. Then the list of Bangladeshi nationals will be submitted to the Korean employers.
?The final selection depends on the Korean employers, said the secretary.
Bureau of Manpower, Employment & Training (BMET)
December 2, 2007
Bureau of Manpower, Employment & Training (BMET)
Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) was established in the year 1976 by the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh as an attached department of the then Ministry of Manpower Development and Social Welfare with specific purpose of meeting the manpower requirement of the country and for export of manpower as well. BMET is engaged for over all planning and implementation of the strategies for proper utilization of manpower of the country.
Presently BMET is under administrative control of Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment. Bureau is performing all functions relating to migration process including licensing of recruiting agents. Through 14 (Fourteen) Technical Training Centers (T.T.C), 1 Institute of Marine Technology and 3 Apprenticeship Training Office BMET imparting training in different employable trades.
BMET Activities :
BMET is engaged in human resources development and to provide employment services both in country and also abroad. The functions can be summarized with the following main tasks:
- To monitor and control legal process of manpower export.
- To Look after the welfare of Bangladeshi workers abroad.
- To provide institution based vocational and technical training in different employable trades.
- To plan and implement development programs to conduct training activities.
- Conducting informal, formal and special training course.
- Coordinate Apprenticeship training.
- Processing of foreign demands for recruitment of Bangladeshi workers.
- Implementation of self-employment programs.
- Collection and dissemination of labour market information.
- Regulates private Recruiting Agents those recruit Bangladeshi workers for foreign employers.
- To increase legal remittance through banks and combat money laundering.
- To combat illegal trafficking and harassment for better image of Bangladesh.
- Registration of Job seekers for overseas employment market in the Computer database Network.
Since its establishment BMET has started serving both skilled and non-skilled professionals as well as classified labour force emigrating with overseas employment. Most of these employment offers are privately arranged by either individuals or Licensed Recruiting Agencies (RA). Most of these licensed agencies are members of Government of Bangladesh recognized association known as BAIRA (Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies). Besides, there is another government agency called BOESL (Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited). It was established in 1984. It is only government agency dealing with recruiting of labour migrants demanded directly through the BMET. This is the only Company created by the Government to operate in healthy competition with private recruiting agencies in the country in this sector. The main purpose of creating this Company is to provide honest, efficient and quick services to the valued foreign employers in the matter of deployment of manpower development.
Offices :
- 21 District Employment & Manpower Office.
- 14 Technical Training Centre and 1 Institute of Marine Technology.
- 03 Apprenticeship Training Office.
Bangladesh seeks priority category for manpower export under WTO (News From Bangladesh)
December 2, 2007
A senior official of the WTO Cell of the commerce ministry said the negotiation for recruitment of manpower under some broad categories by the developed countries from the least developed countries (LDCs) has now been continuing.