Bangladesh, Poland agree to work on migration and maritime economy sectors

Bangladesh and Poland have agreed to establish a joint study group on the migration of skilled workers and joint working group on maritime economy.

Polish ministers agreed with those ideas when State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam proposed them in Warsaw on Saturday, the foreign ministry said.

Alam also attended a reception hosted by the Bangladesh community in Poland and exchanged views with them on the last day of his official visit to the Eastern European country.

Polish Minister for Family, Labour and Social Welfare Elzbieta Rafalska mentioned that Poland is now passing best of the economic development phase with a low rate of unemployment and higher economic growth.

An ageing population, emigration of skilled workers to European countries, she said they were hiring workers from outside.

Alam appreciated the Polish government’s efforts in the revitalisation of the economy and offered to send skilled Bangladeshi workforce to fill the skills gap that exists in Poland.

The Polish Minister informed that her office issued 760 work permits to interested Bangladeshi skilled workers last year and they are open to discussing further scope for collaboration in that regard.

Alam proposed to establish a Joint Study Group to explore mutually beneficial cooperation in the orderly migration of skilled workers, which the Polish Minister immediately agreed to.

He further raised the issue of difficulty in obtaining visas by Bangladeshi citizens from the Polish Embassy in New Delhi.  The Polish Minister assured to take up the matter with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for “practical solutions”.

Polish Deputy Minister for Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation Grzegorz Witkowski expressed a keen interest in entering into bilateral cooperation and collaboration in the areas of seaports, shipbuilding, marine science as well as fish processing.

The Polish side also showed interest to enter into MoU for cooperation between ports of the two countries.

In response, Alam proposed to establish a Joint Working group to identify all possible areas of cooperation in the promising blue economy sector so that both sides may consider entering into MoU on Framework Cooperation in the maritime economy in future.

The Polish side also agreed to the proposal, the foreign ministry said.