Riyadh may resume hiring Bangladeshis

Manpower export from Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia may resume as the government of the Kingdom has begun examining its possibilities, according to a newspaper report.

Quoting popular Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat, Saudi Arabian English daily Saudi Gazette in the report on its Wednesday online edition said a special committee has been formed to study resumption of Bangladeshi manpower recruitment.

International Affairs Ministry’s Undersecretary Dr Ahmed Al-Fihaid told Al Hayat on Tuesday: “The committee will study the criminal records of Bangladeshi workers to ensure that they are clean before reopening the doors for recruitment.”

The comment from the Undersecretary came a day after the Saudi-Bangladeshi Joint Commission had a meeting where a number of political, security and commercial issues were discussed.

During the meeting, Dhaka pledged to protect Saudi citizens in Bangladesh and said the government is giving top priority to this responsibility, said the Saudi Gazette report.

The pledge was made following the killing of the Second Secretary at the Saudi Embassy in Dhaka Khalaf Al-Ali in March 2012. Five Bangladeshis charged with the murder have already been awarded death sentence.

Representatives of a number of Saudi Arabian ministries, including the Ministries of Interior, Foreign Affairs, Labour, Health and Agriculture, attended the meeting.

The meeting called for reactivating the security agreement signed between the two countries, including exchanging security data and solving the problem of Bangladeshis overstaying in the Kingdom, according to the Saudi Gazette report.

Quoting an unnamed source close to the meeting, the report said the Saudi side asked Bangladesh to open its market so that Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) could export its products there.

Dhaka asked Riyadh to offer investment opportunities to Bangladesh businessmen.

The two sides pledged further cooperation in food security, trade fraud combat, trade exchange facilitation and other areas, according to the Gazette report.