RIYADH, 29 October 2003 — Saudi Arabia has agreed to hire more workers from Bangladesh following a visit by Saudi Labor and Social Affairs Minister Ali Ibrahim Al-Namlah to Dhaka last week.
Riyadh has made it clear that it will not fix any ceiling in terms of the number of semi-skilled or skilled workers to be recruited, said Bangladesh Ambassador S. K. Sharjil Hassan here yesterday.
“We will send as many people as Bangladesh can train for fulfilling manpower requirements in Saudi Arabia,” said Ambassador Hassan adding that the Kingdom needed trained and skilled manpower.
Dhaka has already set up training centers to educate the workers before they go to Saudi Arabia or other countries. The Saudi minister visited some of the training facilities during his recent trip to Bangladesh.
The Bangladeshi government also wants to make sure that its local manpower agents do not take advantage of semi-literate unskilled or skilled workers. Despite a rising demand from employers in the Kingdom, a number of Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia are grossly underpaid. Currently, a worker’s salary may range from a meager SR300 a month to several thousands riyals a month in more skilled jobs.
Asked about the formation of a labor commission to review the conditions of Bangladeshi workers, Ambassador Hassan said that it was not necessary.
He pointed out that “Bangladeshi housemaids have begun arriving in Saudi Arabia for the first time.”
At present, there are over three million Bangladeshi workers in different countries around the world; they remit nearly $3 billion annually. Those in Saudi Arabia alone contribute some $1.7 billion to their country’s economy.
