Abu Dhabi, UAE (BBN)-Saudi Labour Minister Adel bin Muhammad Fakeih has said that the Kingdom will soon resume the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers there.
The decision comes after a 2008 ban that prohibited labourers from being brought in from Bangladesh, reports arab news.
During a one-hour meeting on Sunday, Fakeih met at his office with Bangladesh Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain.
Following the meeting, Fakeih on Monday expressed optimism about the improvement and development of the relationship between the two ministries.
Pointing out that he was mainly interested in hiring skilled manpower from Bangladesh, he stressed the need to find appropriate procedures and mechanisms in the deployment of the Bangladeshi work force in the Kingdom which would benefit the people of both countries.
He emphasised that there was a strong need to improve the efficiency and quality of foreign manpower deployed in the Kingdom which would eventually contribute to the development of the nation.
Fakeih also stressed that prospective workers to the Kingdom should undergo orientation programmes back home in addition to proper skills tests in their respective vocations in the Kingdom.
The minister underscored the transparent mechanism of the recruitment process with online verification by all parties involved.
The Bangladeshi minister said that his country has a data center which has registered more than 2.2 million workers for foreign employment.
“These workers have undergone the necessary training to support their respective vocations,” he said, pointing out that the skilled workers are also sent from Bangladesh to countries such as Malaysia, South Korea and Hong Kong.
Bangladesh minister said that Fakeih expressed Saudi Arabia’s readiness to open up the local labour market for Bangladeshi workers soon.
BBN/SS-21Jan15-12:00pm (BST)