Bangladesh inked a bilateral agreement with Saudi Arabia in Dhaka on Tuesday to supply domestic workers to the Kingdom.

The signing took place during a visit by a Saudi delegation representing the labor, interior and foreign affairs ministries. Both parties agreed on a monthly salary of SR800 for the workers.

Ahmed Al-Fahaid, undersecretary for international labor affairs, signed the agreement with Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Bangladesh’s minister of labor.

Al-Fahaid said one of the most important provisions of the agreement is that the recruitment of workers should be undertaken only by licensed agencies and companies in the two countries. This would protect all parties involved from manipulation by intermediaries, he said.

The terms of the agreement include stipulations that workers should not have criminal records, undergo medical tests and comply with Saudi laws and customs during their stay in the Kingdom.

He said the Saudi government signed the deal after officials visited Bangladesh to check its recruitment system, which includes workers registering at official centers and verification of their background.

All workers would be issued with smart cards that contain all their data. The Saudi delegation also visited centers set up to train domestic and commercial workers.

The royal decree to allow recruitment from Bangladesh was issued after the Bangladeshi side started instituting measures to train their workers, and set up a new ministry for workers abroad.

The Dhaka government has also assured the Kingdom that it would block all those with criminal records.