DHAKA, 9 April 2008 — Deputy Minister for Labor Ahmed Al-Mansour, who is currently visiting Dhaka, urged the Bangladeshi government to send to the Kingdom workers who have skills and an adequate knowledge of Saudi culture.
Al-Mansour said there was a need to send skilled workers to the Kingdom due to changes in the labor market. “We can assist Bangladesh in developing skilled manpower, if necessary,” he told reporters after a Saudi-Bangladesh Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting in Dhaka.
The Saudi delegation to the two-day 9th JEC meeting that concluded yesterday was led by Al-Mansour, while Economic Relations Division (ERD) secretary Aminul Islam Bhuiyan headed the host team.
“Lack of knowledge about Saudi rules and regulations creates problems,” said Al-Mansour, adding that outbound workers should also have proper appointment letters. He noted that the Saudi labor market has changed and that the authorities now prefer importing skilled workers.
In response to a question, Al-Mansour said that he would not generalize against recruiting agencies that allegedly cheat workers from Bangladesh. He, however, suggested the need for local recruiting agencies to be transparent in their placement practices.
Bhuiyan said that the JEC had a fruitful meeting on bilateral issues, including manpower export, trade and commerce, economic cooperation and tourism.
During the meeting, the Saudi delegation said that the Kingdom was examining the number of workers from different countries coming into Saudi Arabia, and that this was not an isolated issue just affecting Bangladesh.
The team said that the recent unrest by Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia would not threaten the prospects of more Bangladeshi workers coming to the Kingdom.
