Manpower export from the Chittagong region increased substantially last year to around 58,000 people, highest in recent years, thanks to necessary services to the outbound workers at home.
Some 57, 763 people from the region found overseas jobs, mainly in Saudi Arabia, in 2017 as compared to around 45, 000 people in 2016, according to the manpower office in Chittagong.
As many as 26, 776 people went to Saudi Arabia from Chittagong in 2017 as against only 2, 410 in 2016. Some 17, 530 people went to Oman in 2017 as compared to 11, 080 in 2016.
Sources said the country's manpower export market is mainly centred in the middle-eastern countries. In the year 2016, Oman was the major country to employ workers and professionals from Bangladesh, but replaced by Saudi Arabia in 2017.
While almost half of the manpower found jobs in Saudi Arabia last year, they found poor jobs in other countries including Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon and Singapore, the officials said.
People who visited the manpower office in the city said the number of overseas employment from the region increased last year as the required medical tests, training, finger prints and other activities are now being done in Chittagong instead of Dhaka.
Shifting the activities to Chittagong has saved overseas job seekers from hassles, said Nizam Uddin, who arrived in the manpower office from Banskhali on Sunday for getting the things done.
Contacted, Minister for Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Nurul Islam B.Sc said that the manpower export in such huge number, not only from Chittagong but also from other regions, did not happen since liberation of Bangladesh.
"This is a great achievement and success of the country," he said.
He said the UAE was a big market for the workers of Bangladesh, but the manpower export to the market remains temporarily suspended. "We are trying to restore the market and hopefully we will succeed shortly."
