The Saudi Arabia Ministry of Labor and Social Development lifted the ban on the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers as of Wednesday, reports Arab News.

The ban which was in force for the past six years excluded the Bangladeshi domestic help.

Bangladesh Ambassador Golam Moshi told Arab News that this is good news for all prospective workers from the country.

From now, Bangladeshi migrant jobseekers will be able to find jobs in Saudi Arabian labour market without paying any money to private recruiting agencies for obtaining work-visas, Golam Moshi ambassador at Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh told The Daily Star.

"Workers will not pay any money to the recruiting agencies for work-visas. Saudi company or employer will bear all costs for the workers including the service charge of the recruiting agents," he said over phone from Saudi Arabia.

Talking about the Saudi government's decision to open its labour market for Bangladeshi people in all sectors, the envoy added that the Saudi authorities will follow the recruitment process which is being maintained for the workers from Sri Lanka, India, and Nepal.

The envoy recalled that opening the recruitment channels from Bangladesh is subsequent to the meeting between Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in June.

He said the new decision would pave the way for all categories of Bangladeshi workers which include skilled, unskilled, professionals such as doctors, nurses, teachers, farm and construction workers, reports Arab News.

"We are thankful to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman for allowing us to resume recruitment," Moshi said, adding that the Kingdom has always stood with Bangladesh in good times and bad.

Currently, there are some 60,000 female domestics among the 1.3 million Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom. "Visas for male domestics were issued only from June, and there is a sizable number coming into the Kingdom regularly," he said, adding that 6,000 female workers on average are arriving in the Kingdom per month. "We have around 48 categories of workers serving in all parts of the Kingdom," the official added.

In January, Minister of Labor Mufrej Al-Haqabani and Bangladesh Minister for Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Nurul Islam decided to increase the number of Bangla housemaids.

Both ministers agreed to enhance cooperation in the manpower sector by addressing issues to reduce migration cost, imparting training to Saudi-bound workers, and recruiting more male workers for mutual benefits.

Source: Arab News.