Bangladesh sent over 800,000 workers abroad till October this year, said Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed on Sunday.
“We have sent some 13,13,612 overseas-job seekers abroad during the last two years,” added he at the parliament on behalf of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam BSc.
Tofail said Bangladesh is sending workers to 165 countries across the world, said a BSS report.
The minister said the government has signed agreements/memorandums of understanding with Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, South Korea, Jordan and other countries as main labour markets.
“To reduce unemployment, the present government is considering the issue of sending workers with the utmost priority in the bilateral talks with the countries that recruit workers from Bangladesh,” he said.
Besides, the government signed government to government (G2G) Plus agreement with Malaysian government for sending workers under private management, Tofail said.
“Under the initiative, some 62,846 workers went to Malaysia till November 9 this year,” he added.