Workers to be sent to Malaysia at lowest cost: Minister

Hoping that the Malaysian labour market will reopen for Bangladeshis soon, Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed on Tuesday said workers will be sent to the country at the lowest cost.

“Those intend to go to Malaysia as workers must deposit the amount in a bank account. This process has been adopted to ensure that the workers can be sent at a lower cost,” the minister said at  press briefing on his Malaysia visit at the Probashi Kalyan Bhaban.

“To reduce the hassle of workers, both sides (Bangladesh and Malaysia) have agreed on a single medical test before leaving Bangladesh,” he added.

When asked if workers will be sent to Malaysia through a syndicate this time, the minister said that he does not know how many agencies will form a syndicate but the main objective is to send workers to Malaysia at a lower cost.

On November 6, a meeting was held between Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed and Malaysian Human Resource Minister M. Kulasegaran in Kuala Lumpur where the Malaysian government agreed to reopen the country’s labour market for Bangladeshis ‘at the earliest time possible’.

In the meeting, the two ministers discussed recruitment of Bangladeshi labourers in Malaysia at minimum migration cost, the extent of involvement of recruiting agencies in both countries, the requisite medical tests, social and economic security of the migrants and data sharing.

The process of recruiting labourers from Bangladesh may follow a joint working group meeting on November 24-25 in Dhaka, according to Minister Imran Ahmed.