Manpower pact with Dhaka soon

The governments of Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh will sign a memorandum of understanding to ensure smooth recruitment of manpower from Dhaka.
The decision was taken at a meeting between Labor Minister Adel Fakeih and Bangladesh Minister for Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Khandker Mosharraf Hossain in Jeddah yesterday.
The meeting was attended by the country’s Ambassador in Saudi Arabia Mohammed Shahidul Islam and senior Saudi government officials.
Ambassador Islam told Arab News that the two ministers agreed to sign the pact soon after working out details and completing formalities.
“Bangladesh has signed a similar agreement with Malaysia,” he said. “Some other countries are also interested in signing similar agreements.”
“This policy has been found extremely useful in minimizing migration costs which is the root cause for many irregular activities,” he said.
“It was agreed to set up training centers for human resources development in Bangladesh in cooperation with the Saudi government,” Islam said, adding that the selection of 13 mega companies to recruit Bangladeshi manpower would help minimize the scope of fraudulent activities as well as migration costs.
Hossain thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for extending the amnesty period up to Nov. 3 to correct the employment status of illegal workers. He appreciated the efforts of the Saudi government to successfully implement the new Nitaqat laws.
Hossain said that some Bangladeshi workers, who entered Saudi Arabia legally, are now not in a position to show any documents or proof in favor of their entry into the Kingdom. “These workers are willing to travel back to Bangladesh on final exit but are unable to do so with the travel permit (outpass) issued by the Bangladesh missions in Saudi Arabia.”
He requested his counterpart to allow these people to travel to Bangladesh. The Saudi minister assured all possible cooperation in this regard.