Manpower exporters hope they will be able to send workers to Malaysia sans migration cost if the employers provide necessary
expenses, as stated in the just-struck fresh deal.
They also welcomed the new agreement on resumption of recruitment for the vital labour market. The outflow of workers to the destination would increase significantly, so would Bangladesh's remittance earnings.
Sammilita Ganatantrik Jote, a faction of manpower recruiters, came up with the hopes promptly at press conference held Monday at Dhaka Reporters Unity in the city.
Monsur Ahmed Kalam, former secretary-general of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), said they were grateful to the government over the Memorandum of Understating (MoU) signed between Bangladesh and Malaysia on manpower hire.
He eyes a vast potential of overseas jobs in the newly industrialised Southeast Asian country. If the process works properly, Bangladesh would be able to send about 1.0 million workers over there.
But they are yet to be clear about the procedure of sending workers, he said.
"We were against any kind of syndicate of manpower recruiters over the Malaysian market," said Shafiqul Alam Firoz, former senior vice president of BAIRA.
Replying to a query, he said they would protest if syndicate forms on this market.
A good number of manpower recruiters were present at the press meet, a day after the deal was signed in Kuala Lumpur to unlock the sealed job destination.
Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur (KL) Sunday signed the MoU on manpower hiring from Bangladesh after the lapse of over two years. The duration of the deal is five years.
Bangladesh Minister for Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Imran Ahmad and Malaysian Minister of Human Resources Datuk Seri M Saravanan inked the deal from their respective sides.
Officials and sector-insiders say the market would start recruitment of workers from Bangladesh soon.
As per the deal employers will bear most of recruitment charges, including airfare for first-time flying of workers. If the workers complete contract period, they will also get return airfare.
Apart from these services, employers also will bear visa and immigration charges, medical checkup, Covid-19 test, quarantine, accommodation etc.
Bangladeshi workers will also enjoy employment-insurance coverage for five years.
The reopening comes after more than three years' ban following alleged syndication under the previous recruitment system. The Malaysian government had stopped hiring workers from Bangladesh since September 2018.
More than 1.0 million Bangladeshis have gone to Malaysia for jobs since 1978, Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training data show.
Malaysia is an important job destination for Bangladesh workers. They fetched more than US$ 2.0 billion in remittance from Malaysia in 2020-21 fiscal year.
Bangladesh earned a total of $21.75 billion in annual remittance from expatriates last year, amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Remittance inflow accounted for 6.6 per cent of its GDP in 2020, making Bangladesh the eighth-largest remittance earner in the year, says a report by the Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD).
-File photo