Owners of recruiting agencies have expressed elation over the reopening of labour market in Malaysia. They congratulated the government for taking the initiative to reopen the labor market and assured cooperation in the work.
They expressed their satisfaction at a press conference organized by Sammilita Ganatantrik Jote at the Nasrul Hamid Auditorium of Dhaka Reporters' Unity in the capital on Monday.
Shafiqul Alam Firoz, convener of the Sammilita Ganatantrik Jote and former senior vice-president of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) said that a memorandum of understanding was signed between Bangladesh and the Malaysian government on Sunday to open the Malaysian labor market.
“This is good news for the country in the month of victory. Saudi Arabia and Malaysia are among the most sought after labor markets in Bangladesh for migrant workers. The Malaysian labor market had been closed since September 1, 2018. As this important labor market had been closed for more than three years, the number of migrant workers came down drastically,” he said.
He mentioned that in 2017 and 2018, when the labor market was open, the largest number of workers went to the country.
“At that time almost of the 10,08,000 workers from Bangladesh were employed abroad. Due to the closure of the Malaysian labor market, the migration sector had slowed down a lot,” he added.
He further said that the much-awaited Malaysian labor market was opened on Sunday with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two countries after overcoming 40 months of adversities and the tireless work of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed under the direction of the Prime Minister.
“We are hopeful that this will create employment for many Bangladeshi workers and increase our expatriate income,” he said.
Lt Gen (retd) Masud Uddin Chowdhury, Member of Parliament, Abdus Sobhan Bhuiyan Hasan, Chairman of Chauddagram Upazila Parishad of Comilla and Mansur Ahmed Kalam, President of Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB) and former Secretary General of BAIRA were present during this time.