Bangladesh missions: Govt launches remittance campaign
Labour welfare wings at Bangladesh missions abroad have been working on different initiatives to encourage more migrant workers to send remittance home using formal channels.
The initiatives include promoting remittance-related app-based services, giving priority to remitters using banking channels, and raising awareness among migrant workers.
At present, there are 30 labour welfare wings under the expatriates' welfare ministry at Bangladesh missions in 27 countries.
A dozen of these wings are in nine countries from where Bangladesh received 64.13 percent of the total US $21.6 billion in remittance in FY 2022-2023.
Labour officials at a number of missions said they have been holding formal programmes and interacting during services to inform migrant workers about the initiatives, alongside online publicity.
In the last fiscal year, the country saw a 2.75 percent year-on-year remittance growth, according to Bangladesh Bank.
However, inward remittance month-on-month declined by 10.27 percent, 18.93, and 16 percent in July, August and September respectively in the current fiscal.
There are 30 labour welfare wings under the expatriates' welfare ministry at Bangladesh missions in 27 countries. A dozen of these wings are in nine countries from where Bangladesh received 64.13 percent of the total US $21.6 billion in remittance earning in FY 2022-2023.
There is concern that many Bangladeshis in different countries use unauthorised channels like hundi to send money home, depriving the country of valuable foreign currency.
Nazmus Sadat Salim, minister (labour) at the Bangladesh mission in Kuala Lumpur, said three Bangladeshi banks have remittance services there and two of them introduced app-based services last year, while the third bank is working to launch its own app.
"Our focus is to popularise the apps. If migrant workers learn to use the apps successfully, they can save time and money," he added.
He noted that since many new workers have migrated to Malaysia in recent months, their contributions will be crucial towards remittance growth.
The Bangladesh embassy in Oman's Muscat issued a circular in August last year, saying it will provide passport and other services on priority-basis among migrant workers who can show slips of remitting money through formal channels for the previous three months.
Asadul Haque, second secretary (labour) at the Bangladesh mission in Muscat, said they are raising awareness among migrant workers regarding remittance at different programmes, featuring community members.
Hazra Sabbir Hossain, counsellor (labour) at the Bangladesh embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE, echoed the same.
An official at the Bangladesh embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE said many migrant workers in the Gulf country tend to send money through unauthorised channels due to absence of banking services at their doorsteps.
It is possible to generate more remittance from the UAE by taking effective steps, he added.
Currently, an estimated 11 lakh Bangladeshis, including undocumented ones, live in the UAE. They sent home US$ 3.03 billion in the last fiscal, making it the third most remittance-generating country after Saudi Arabia and the US.