IT is good to know that Saudi Arabia has withdrawn the restriction on recruiting male workers from Bangladesh. It is the biggest manpower market for Bangladeshi workers and around three million Bangladeshis work there, which is roughly 75 per cent of total number of Bangladeshis working abroad. Bangladeshis living in Saudi Arabia are playing an important role in our economy by remitting valuable foreign exchange. We must provide them adequate support so that more people can work there. This is great news for Bangladeshis seeking jobs abroad. We have a bubbling young population and every year young people join the workforce, but we do not have adequate openings for them at home. As a result, many of them try their luck outside, especially Saudi Arabia which is a popular destination for our job-seekers.
The decision will benefit all Bangladeshi workers skilled and unskilled and professionals. We should train our workers so that they can be in the skilled category as there is high demand for skilled people outside. The aging population is increasing in the world especially in Japan, China, Korea, Europe and western countries and Bangladesh can fill in the void. But for that we shall have to train our people so that they can be developed as skilled manpower to suit the requirements of the developed countries facing acute shortage of skilled work force at home.
Mohammed Alim
Khilkhet, Dhaka
