Move to speed up recruitment
The officials of Bangladesh government will hold talks with the Malaysian authorities on Monday in Malaysia to speed up the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers under the government-to-government (G2G) system to the Southeast Asian nation.
The officials at the expatriates' welfare and overseas employment ministry said the two-day meeting will focus on the acceleration of the recruitment of male workers and the employment of female workers under state arrangements.
"As only a few people now get job opportunities under the G2G process, we will emphasise the issue in the meeting and urge the Malaysian authorities to hire our people for all sectors," Expatriates' Welfare Secretary Khondaker Showkat Hossain told The Daily Star yesterday.
Currently, Malaysian employers are hiring Bangladeshi male workers only for the plantation sector under state arrangements.
Over 8,000 workers went to Malaysia so far under this process initiated by the two countries in April last year, according to Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia, however, needs more workers for construction, manufacturing and service sectors, the secretary added.
"As the Malaysian human resources minister during his visit to Dhaka assured us of employing our people in some other sectors, we will discuss the matter," Showkat said.
The Malaysian Human Resources Minister Richard Riot Anak Jaem visited Dhaka last August to discuss the recruitment of workers from Bangladesh under government arrangements. The Malaysian minister then said they would hire Bangladeshi workers for construction, manufacturing and service sectors apart from plantation but did not mention when the workers would be recruited.
"The Malaysian minister assured us of hiring 12,000 workers for plantation sector for its Sarawak province. We believe the process might start from December," the expatriates' welfare secretary hoped.
Around 20,000 to 30,000 Bangladeshis may be able to get jobs in agriculture, construction, cleaning and some other professions by June next year if the recruitment process for all these sectors starts, he added.
Asked if the issue of trafficking of Bangladeshis through Thailand-Malaysia border will be raised at the meeting, the secretary avoided a reply.
However, Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira) leaders said illegal migration by sea can be reduced significantly if the Malaysian authorities open all its sectors to ensure available jobs for Bangladeshi workers.
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