Bangladesh, Malaysia ink accord on recruitment of 1.5 mln workers

Bangladesh and Malaysia signed an agreement here Thursday finalizing the modalities of recruitment of some 1.5 million workers from Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam and Malaysian Human Resources Minister Richard Riot Anak Jaem signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Dhaka.

The MoU is expected to bring a new system, styled as "G2G (government-to-government) Plus", which was approved by the Bangladeshi cabinet on Feb. 8 to pave the way to send 1.5 million workers to Malaysia in the next three years.

Under the new arrangement, privately-run manpower recruiting agencies will be participating in recruitment of manpower. The expenses for sending a worker will be between 34,000 taka (about 433 U.S. dollars) and 37,000 taka, and the employers will bear the cost.

Under the new deal, Malaysia would recruit Bangladeshi workers in construction, service, manufacturing and agriculture sectors, according to officials.

After signing the agreement, officials of both counties expressed optimism that the MoU would put an end to large-scale corruption and cheating by recruiting agents who used to recruit workers from Bangladesh to Malaysia after taking huge sums as bribes and commission.

The minimum wage for workers will be around 15,000 taka, said the Malaysian minister.

He expressed the hope that the deal will be implemented soon. Endit