Govt to send 10 million skilled workers abroad in next 5 years

Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury on Thursday said the government has planned to send 10 million skilled workers abroad in the next five years.

In view of this, under the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, a total of 110 training institutes, including 104 Technical Training Centers and 06 Institutes of Marine Technology, are providing skill development training in 55 employment-appropriate short and long-term trades/courses.

He said this while replying to a question and answer from Naogaon-5 MP Zahidul Islam Dhalu during the budget session of the Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday (July 9). Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed will preside over the session.

Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury said the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment has formulated an action plan as part of the implementation of the government's election manifesto to consolidate, expand and preserve the foreign labour market and to create skilled workers suitable for foreign employment and to overcome their language problems.

In addition, a plan has been made to send 10 million skilled workers abroad in the next five years. In view of this, under the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, a total of 110 training institutes, including 104 technical training centers and 6 institutes of Marine Technology, are providing skill development training in 55 employment-appropriate short and long-term trades/courses.

Replying to a question from Barishal-3 MP Zainul Abedin, the minister said the government is working to control safe, regular and orderly migration, immigration expenses and fraud of brokers.

The Foreign Employment Platform (OEP) has been introduced to make immigration management more transparent, accountable and easy, including reducing the violence of middlemen who send the workers abroad on time, admission of trainees to training institutes, monitoring, certification, verification of demand letters/visas from the Labor Welfare Wing located abroad and issuance of exit clearance for the workers who want to go abroad. As a result, the violence of brokers at different stages of immigration has decreased, so transparency and accountability in immigration management will increase.

He also said the government has formulated the 'Foreign Employment and Migration License and Sub-Agent Registration and Conduct Rules, 2025' to bring brokers or sub-agents under the legal framework. In addition, District Migration Coordination Committees and Upazila Migration Coordination Committees have been formed at the district and upazila level to implement migration-related activities at the local level.