Govt will oversee manpower recruiting process in Saudi Arabia

Manpower recruitment for Saudi Arabia will be handled by private agencies but will be closely monitored by the government, Expatriates’ Welfare Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain has said.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 9 Feb 2015, 07:28 AM
Updated : 10 Feb 2015, 03:29 PM

“This will not be a G to G (government to government) recruitment, rather it will be one involving private recruiting agencies. But the whole process will be closely monitored by the government,” he said after a meeting with a Saudi delegation on Monday.

A 19-member delegation headed by Saudi Deputy Minister of Labour for International Affairs Ahmad Bin Fahad Al Fuhaid met with ministry officials to work out the details of the recruitment process, the minister said.

“We have told them the minimum wage for workers of Bangladesh has to be between 1,200 and 1,500 Riyals (1 Riyal = 21 Taka). Otherwise we will not send workers,” he said.

But the number of workers from Bangladesh is yet to be finalised, added the minister.

Speaking to bdnews24.com, the Saudi deputy minister said that they had employed 1.3 million workers from abroad in the last year and that would be the case this year as well.

“But this time Bangladesh will get priority”, added Ahmad Al Fahad.

In January this year, Saudi Labour Minister Abdel Fakeih announced the lifting of a seven-year ban on hiring Bangladeshi workers.
The kingdom recruited about 150,000 Bangladeshis each year until 2008, according to a statement of that country’s Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training.
Following the 2008 ban on hiring of workers in housing and agricultural sectors, the annual average of recruitment from Bangladesh plummeted to around 10,000.
According to official figures about 1.3 million Bangladeshis now work in Saudi Arabia, making the oil-rich kingdom the largest manpower market for Bangladesh.