Malaysia concessions for Bangladeshi workers

The Cabinet has approved an amendment to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Malaysia regarding manpower export.

The move will allow Bangladeshi people to work in the country's Sarawak province.

A Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave its green to the MoU's amendment on Monday.

At present, workers from Bangladesh can only get employed in mainland Malaysia.

Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo.

It's situated on the northwest of the island, bordering the state of Sabah to the northeast, Indonesia to the south and it contains Brunei, the only country that is enclaved on the island.

"An amended G to G (govt to govt) deal with Malaysia on manpower export will be signed," Cabinet Secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters after the meeting.

He said only the jurisdiction of Sarawak province will be added to the existing MoU, everything else will remain same. "The existing deal is only good for employment in mainland Malaysia, now this will enable jobs for Bangladeshis at Sarawak province."

The Cabinet has also given its nod to ink a deal with Malaysia regarding on-arrival visas for diplomatic and official passport holders of both countries.

"They will get a visa for a 90-day stay and can use it for transit purposes also. For a further stay they would have to renew it according to the official procedures of the countries," Bhuiyan said.

Currently, Bangladesh has such deal with 12 countries and treaties with another 18 are on the cards.