Bangladesh can export a record number of 10,000-20,000 workers to South Korea this or next year as the 10th largest economy of the world has decided to expand the number of recruitment by several times to help companies and industries battling the crunch of blue workers, diplomats, policy-makers and manpower exporters said
Bangladesh exported a total of 2,945 workers to South Korea during January- May of the current calendar year and the last year the country exported a total of 5,910 workers in 2022, according to Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET).
South Korean Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon on June 28, 2023 said that South Korea will boost its annual quota of visas for skilled workers to more than 30,000 this year from just 2,000 a year ago, to help companies battling a staff crunch, the justice minister said.
With younger South Koreans reluctant to take up blue-collar jobs, the industrial and farming sectors of Asia’s fourth-largest economy are struggling to fill vacancies.
“As we are expanding the number by 30-fold at once … there will be no talk of foreigners unable to come due to insufficient quota,” the presidential office quoted Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon as telling a government meeting. The comparison was to the figure of about 1,000 in 2020, the minister added.
The comparison was to the figure of about 1,000 in 2020, the minister added.
Earlier, the South Korean government planned to receive 10,000 Bangladeshi expatriate workers this year. Outgoing Korean Ambassador Lee Jang-keun made the disclosure while paying a farewell call to Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina at the Ganabhaban recently
While only around 1,500 Bangladeshi workers were dispatched to Korea under the Employment Permit System (EPS) until 2021, the number increased significantly to 5,910 in 2022, he noted.
"Expatriate workers are the other arena where we have seen meaningful development over one or two years," he added
Meanwhile, Vice President 1 of Bangladesh Association of Recruitment Agencies (BAIRA) Noman Chowdhury said that proper policy support and guidance, strict government monitoring and successful and effective diplomacy can give a boost to the export of manpower.
Noman Chowdhury, also Chairman of Dahmashi Group and President Bangladesh Association of Gulf Medical Centers (BAGMC), also said the prospect of manpower export to developed countries will be increased in the coming days as the population growth in the rich countries has dropped leading to a crunch of workers.
While talking to this correspondent, a high official of the BMET said the government of Bangladesh has set up a crash plan to train workers in different parts of the country to cater to the growing demands in the developed countries.
Meanwhile, South Korea is preparing to let more foreign workers return to the country to provide relief to local farms, factories, and construction sites, which heavily rely on migrant labour, after it has.
According to Labour Ministry officials, the government is seeking to allow the entry of more foreigners with an E-9 non-professional employment visa, which is issued for those coming to work.
