7-point strategy to tap new manpower export market
January 29, 2008
The caretaker government announced a seven-point strategy to ensure the well-being of the Bangladeshi workers abroad and expand the manpower-export market worldwide by removing the prevailing hurdles, reports UNB.
Foreign and Overseas Employment Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury Wednesday announced the strategy, which includes exploring new manpower-export markets in the Scandinavian, European and East European countries like Norway, Sweden and Romania.
The strategy includes extension of the existing markets in the Middle-East, including Libya, enhancing skills in the English language, exporting manpower from Monga-affected areas, ensuring proper utilisation of remittances, ensuring strong monitoring to check fraud in manpower export, and working together with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the International Migration Organisation (IMO).
Speaking at a press briefing at the Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry, the adviser said the government has adopted the strategy as it believes that the country’s prime foreign currency earnings would come from the manpower-export sector.
During the briefing, Overseas Employment secretary Abdul Matin Chowdhury noted that until September last, a total of 8,830 Bangladeshi citizens were in prisons in different countries across the world, either in police custody or under remand. Of them, 1,930 were convicted.
Of the convicts, the highest 636 Bangladeshi nationals are in Saudi jails.
Iftekhar Chowdhury said the Malaysian government is yet to convey any decision about suspending recruitment of Bangladeshi workers. “But, despite that, everyday, on an average, about 700 workers are leaving for Malaysia and the government is working on the issue so that the market could be resumed,” he said.
The caretaker government would deal with the manpower-export business in the new manpower markets taking lesson from Malaysian incidents, he informed. He also said a South Korean delegation is arriving in Dhaka on December 9 to discuss manpower import from Bangladesh.
He noted that an agreement would be signed between the Korean HRD and Bangladesh’s state-owned recruiting agency Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Service Limited (BOESL).
“Korea will recruit about 3,000 workers. Those who are now in Korea will get priority in recruitment as they have command on Korean language,” he added.
The diplomat-turned Adviser said a total of 526,171 Bangladeshi workers have gone abroad for jobs since the present caretaker government assumed office in January 2007.
He informed that a total of 764,903 workers were issued outgoing permits in last 11 months, of which 2,38,000 were waiting to fly. “This figure is the highest in any time in the history.”
The country received US$ 5.78 billion (Tk 40,323 crore) in remittance until November 22. “If the trend continues, the remittance flow will exceed US$ 6 billion,” the Adviser said.
BSS adds: Iftekhar also said the government will also introduce a strict system to monitor manpower recruiting agencies so that none of them could cheat people seeking employment abroad. The government already took action against Kabir Enterprise, for wrongdoings, but its licence was yet to be cancelled, he informed adding that for their misconduct punitive action was also taken against some officials at the Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia.
The government, if required, would bring back the 49 Bangladeshis agitating in front of Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur as they did not get the jobs they were promised, he said replying to a question. The government was aware, he said, replying to a question, that some people were acting against Bangladesh’s interest in Malaysia.
Action would be taken against such elements in due course, he mentioned. The question of withdrawal of Malaysian ban on Bangladeshi manpower was being discussed by the two governments, he told a questioner.
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.
Bangladesh Overseas Employment & Services Ltd. (BOESL)
December 2, 2007
Bangladesh Overseas Employment & Services Ltd. (BOESL)
To earn the much needed foreign exchange by way of exporting professional, skilled & un-skilled manpower the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh established Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL) in 1984. This is the only Company created by the Government to operate in healthy competition with about 600 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.List of the members of the Board of Directors of BOESL
1. Secretary, Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare & Overseas Employment: Chairman
2. Director General. Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training : Director
3. Joint Sec., Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare & Overseas Employment : Director
4. Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs : Director
5. Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs : Director
6. Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance : Director
7. Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation & Tourism : Director
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.
Labor Resistance to Pro-market Economic Reforms in Bangladesh
December 2, 2007
Written by Mohammed Nuruzzaman
Department of Political Science, University of Alberta
Pro-market economic reforms enjoy less social support in most developing countries, including Bangladesh. Labor response to reform policies, in particular, has been quite unfriendly and often violent. This article analyzes labor resistance to pro-market economic reforms in Bangladesh in the decades of 1980s and 1990s. It explores the underlying causes that spurred labor resistance to market-oriented reforms, examines the successes and failures the resistance achieved or recorded and arrives at the conclusion that the spate of labor resistance in the industrial sector in the 1980s and 1990s had the potential to halt or roll back the reform program but it did not succeed due to a host of factors, including workers’ disunity, ideological divide between various trade unions, lack of organizational structure, control of pro-reform national political parties over their respective trade unions, the diminishing influence of leftist trade unions in labor politics and the lack of an alternative leftist political agenda in Bangladesh politics. The leftist failure to organize workers and launch a collective movement against pro-market forces apparently promises a better future for market-oriented reforms in Bangladesh.