Manpower export dips

Despite the government’s hectic diplomatic efforts, the country’s manpower export witnessed a drastic fall by 58.80 per cent in the first eight months (July-February) of the current fiscal, official sources said.
Some 285,242 Bangladeshis secured overseas jobs during July-February period of the current fiscal while 493,467 found overseas job during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to the statistics of Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET).
Besides, a total of 27,039 Bangladeshi fortune seekers secured their employment in various countries in February 2010, which is the lowest monthly performance in last five years. Bangladesh sent a total of 43,856 workers abroad in February 2009, said BMET officials.
About 650,059 lakh Bangladeshi fortune seekers secured overseas jobs in the fiscal year 2008-09, the BMET data showed.
“The country’s manpower export continued to decline significantly due to global recession and ban by major manpower importing countries,” said a senior official of the Ministry for Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.
He said the drastic fall in manpower export has started since the beginning of 2009 when recession severely hit the developing economies.
“The decline in manpower export has been attributed to the impact of global recession, which slowed down development activities of many countries that used to employ migrant workers,” Engr Khondoker Mosharraf Hossain, Minister for Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment told The News Today on Sunday.
Besides, ban imposed by Malaysia, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia has contributed to the decline in the manpower export in the recent months,” he added.
“We’re cautiously observing the situation and the government has already taken vigorous diplomatic efforts to promote the country’s manpower export to the potential job markets,” added the minister.
Hossain, who arrived in the country on Sunday ending his five-day Lebanon visit said, the government has also taken initiative to explore new labor market in Lebanon, Eastern Europe and African countries for the country’s economic benefit and his visit was initiated as part of this effort.
The minister also said in the last three months hectic diplomatic efforts were taken in Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates by approaching the leaders of those countries so that the existing Bangladeshi workers can enjoy their due right in their workplaces. Steps have also taken to legalise the Bangladeshi workers who are staying there illegally for a long time, the minister further added.
Responding to a question about manpower export ban by Malaysia he said, “We are continuously communicating with the Malaysian government in this regard and we hope the problem will be resolved soon.”
However, the minister said, “Above all we’re emphasising on the Middle-Eastern region as it is a big market for Bangladesh and where a large number of local expatriates have been working for long time.”
The minister expressed his optimism that the gloomy picture of the country’s manpower export will not persist and it will be back on the right track within three months as global economy is recovering fast.
Manpower export, one of the main sources of the country’s remittance earning, contributed around 11 per cent to the GDP in FY 2008-09.
But the fall in export of manpower may not affect the remittance but it may slow down unless new markets are tapped, recruiting agency sources said.
Moreover, sources in the manpower sector blamed that the government’s diplomatic efforts are failing to bring fruitful results in most of the cases due to unwillingness from the officials in different Bangladesh missions abroad.
“No doubt the present government has engaged its all-out drive for pursuing the country’s manpower export. But we have yet seen any meaningful change in this regard as officials, who are working in Bangladeshi missions abroad, are not so competent to negotiate with their counterparts,” Ghulam Mustafa, president of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies BAIRA), told this correspondent on Monday.
Echoing with the minister he said the ongoing global economic recession and ban imposed by Malaysia and the Middle-Eastern countries contributed to the decline in manpower export in the recent months.
The BAIRA president expressed his hope that the scenario will change rapidly and Bangladeshi workers would be able to secure jobs in newly explored markets such as Rumania, Libya, Austria, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Botswana, Iraq, Angola, South Africa, Lebanon, Bahrain, New Zealand, Eastern Europe and Canada.

Courtesy of The News Today