Dhaka: A central bank report reveals that Saudi Arabia remains the preferred destination for Bangladeshi migrant workers as the South Asian country gets ready to send more skilled labourers to the Kingdom.
In the final three months of 2022 alone, nearly 100,000 Bangladeshis moved to Saudi Arabia, according to a Bangladesh Bank report released on Saturday. Over half of the migrant workers from Bangladesh were employed by Saudi employers last year.
According to the central bank report, workers in Saudi Arabia sent about $910 million to Bangladesh during the fourth quarter of last year, placing the country just behind the US as the second-largest source of remittances.
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According to Gazi Mohammed Shahed Anowar, deputy secretary at the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, "the Bangladeshi migrants nurture a special feeling in their hearts for this country, which encourages many of them to find jobs in the Kingdom.
According to him, Saudi Arabia has long been the destination of choice for Bangladeshi immigrants. "A large number of our immigrants are already employed in the Kingdom. Therefore, the migrants already living in the Kingdom help their relatives find new jobs in Bangladesh.
In accordance with the recently introduced Skill Verification Program, which aims to increase the professional competence of workers on the Saudi labour market, Bangladesh has started making preparations to send skilled workers to Saudi Arabia for the first time.
The Kingdom's plans to hire qualified workers from the South Asian nation would also increase remittances.
"We are working to get skilled workers ready for this market. If we are successful in meeting the demand for skilled workers in the Kingdom, I believe our remittance flow from the Kingdom will increase more in the coming days," Anowar said.
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According to Shariful Hasan, director of the migration programme at BRAC, the largest development organisation in Bangladesh, the country benefits from close diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia.
According to Hasan, "the country is in growing need of migrant workers also because they have undergone some mega projects."