Sending manpower from Bangladesh to Japan has increased significantly in recent years following demand from the employers of different sectors.
The East Asian nation hired 180 workers as technical interns (TIs) in 2022, which is more than double than the total number of last three years.
Bangladesh sent 144 TIs from 2017 to 2020 to Japan, as per the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) data.
The Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment of Bangladesh and the International Manpower Development Organisation of Japan (IM Japan) signed an instrument in 2017 for hiring TIs from Bangladesh.
In 2022, local workers mainly went to work in construction and automobile sectors in Japan. Of the total 180 workers, seven were female. Of them, five went as caregivers, while two went to work in automobile sector.
Some 29 Bangladeshis are expected to fly for Japan in this month, while 367 others are in the pipeline of going to the destination by this year.
The BMET officials hoped that the outflow of manpower to Japan would gradually rise.
BMET Director General Md Shahidul Alam said they would be able to send more manpower to the country. He also said there is an opportunity to send workers to Japan through regular process as well.
Other recruitment agencies of that country have expressed interest to hire workers from Bangladesh in sectors like service, agriculture, construction, etc.
The government has expanded the scope of learning Japanese language in 42 technical training centres to increase the number of outbound workers. Japanese language skill is mandatory for the TIs, alongside having a minimum educational qualification of Higher Secondary Certificate.
The BMET chief, however, emphasised promoting market to create more jobs for local workers.
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