Fakieh, who renewed his commitments to work out new welfare measures for the benefit of workers in all sectors, has also accepted an invitation to visit Dhaka in the near future, said Bangladeshi Ambassador M. Shahidul Islam following a meeting on Monday.
Islam said the talks focused on labor issues and many bilateral subjects of common interest. There are over 1.2 million Bangladeshis living and working in Saudi Arabia.
Asked whether he discussed the issue of recruiting unskilled Bangladeshi manpower, Islam said, “There are no problems as of now in terms of the recruitment of Bangladeshi professionals and skilled workers.” He, however, did not clearly explain Dhaka’s position about the alleged ban imposed by Riyadh on the recruitment of manpower from the country.
According to a report released by a migration workers’ body called “Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit” (RMMRU), labor export from Bangladesh dropped by around 21 percent in 2010 compared to the previous year. Dhaka’s concerns over the welfare of Bangladeshis in Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia, have been raised by recent events highlighting poor working conditions and wages.
The report said that the number of Bangladeshi workers who have left for various overseas destinations, including the Gulf states, in 2010 was recorded at 376,327. This is 21 percent less than 2009. This has also caused fears that Bangladesh might not remain the dominant exporter of manpower, especially to Gulf countries.
“What is more worrying to the Bangladesh government is that there has been a negative flow of manpower to the largest Bangladeshi manpower market, Saudi Arabia, since the beginning of 2009,” said the report.
Asked about other specific issues discussed during the meeting, Islam said that his meeting with the minister was more of “a courtesy call.”
On the commercial front, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh have forged closer relations and the Kingdom signed a recent agreement to avoid double taxation in trade.
The Saudi government has also announced that it will provide about SR198 million to construct the 8.25-kilometer Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover in Dhaka.
A draft loan agreement in this regard has already been signed by the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD). According to a report, the SFD and the OPEC Fund for Development have assured Bangladesh that they will give SR198 million and SR105 million respectively to build the flyover by 2013. The Kingdom has been a major contributor to the Vienna-based OPEC Fund.
