Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen yesterday said he wants December 30 to be declared as "Expatriates' Day", which will be celebrated in the country every year.

"With this, we can involve expatriates in the country's development more," he said, mentioning that expatriates usually come home around this time of the year.

Momen said his ministry already approached the prime minister with the matter and urged the expatriates' welfare ministry to take steps in this regard.

The minister was addressing the national programme marking International Migrants Day, which was organised by the expatriates' welfare ministry at the capital's Bangabandhu International Conference Center.

International Migrants Day is observed annually on December 18 across the globe, following a United Nations General Assembly proclamation in 2000.

At the event, the expatriates' welfare ministry awarded 57 non-resident Bangladeshis with "CIP (NRB)-2019" awards in three categories -- "industrial investment" (one person), "remitting foreign currency" (47 persons), and "importing goods from Bangladesh" (nine persons) -- for their outstanding contributions during fiscal 2017-2018.

Besides, some children of migrant workers received educational scholarships during the programme.

Addressing the event as chief guest, Momen said they have launched two IT-based applications -- Dutabash and myGov-- to enhance the quality of services for expatriates.

The apps enable expatriates to get required services regarding passport renewal and attestation of different documents using their cell phones, he said.

He added that the government wants to strengthen its efforts, so that expatriate Bangladeshis can get their national identity (NID) cards while staying abroad.

Such projects have already been launched in the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, but the pandemic

slowed the project down, he further said.

The foreign minister said they are trying to reopen the labour market in Libya for Bangladeshi workers, adding that the country stopped sending workers to Libya in 2015.

Chairing the event, Expatriates' Welfare Minister Imran Ahmad urged expatriates with commercially important person (CIP) status to invest more in the country's economy.

He said he will make proposals to the PM to get a special economic zone for them.

Imran said he will be in Malaysia today to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Southeast Asian country to reopen the market there.

"It's a big market," he said, adding Bangladeshi migrant workers are enthusiastic to get jobs in Malaysia, since its social system favours them.

In his speech, Anisul Islam Mahmud, chairperson of the parliamentary committee on expatriates' welfare ministry, said migrant workers are the main pillars of the country's economy, as development has been largely possible due to the remittance sent by them.

The government did a lot for them, but there is much more to do to ensure their wellbeing, he said.

Among others, Ahmed Munirus Saleheen, secretary of expatriates' welfare ministry; Fathima Nusrath Ghazzali, officer in charge of International Organisation for Migration Bangladesh; and Tuomo Poutiainen, country director of International Labour Organisation, Bangladesh, spoke at the event.