Govt Prioritises Skilled Youth Development: PM

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman today said his government's one of the key priorities is transforming the country's young population into skilled human resources to increase their participation in both the domestic and international labour markets.

"The present government is committed to undertaking and implementing various initiatives aimed at ensuring balanced development across all regions of the country, creating sustainable employment, and developing a skilled workforce," he said.

The Prime Minister made these remarks while responding to a starred question from treasury bench MP Md Robiul Awal from Tangail-6 constituency in the House with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad in the chair.

Tarique Rahman said in line with the current government's election manifesto, there are plans to establish employment exchange centres, through which employment-related information, skills development, and access to job opportunities at the local level will be enhanced.

Once these centres are established, they will make the country's existing domestic labour market management more effective and institutionalized, while also creating new employment opportunities and improving the living standards of working people, he said.

Highlighting measures taken to strengthen, expand, and diversify international labour markets, the prime minister said due to ongoing instability in the Middle East, initiatives have already been taken to reopen the Malaysian labour market and expand employment opportunities in Thailand, South Korea, and Japan. 

The final draft of the labour recruitment agreement with Thailand has been sent to the Thai government, he said.

He further said instructions have been issued to Bangladesh missions abroad to assess labour demand in their respective countries and submit specific action plans for increasing manpower exports. 

Diplomatic efforts are continuing to reopen the labour markets in Malaysia, Oman, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, he noted.

The 7th Joint Committee Meeting between Qatar and Bangladesh was held in Dhaka on 18 May, he said, adding that Qatar's minister of labour expressed interest in recruiting skilled Bangladeshi workers in various professions, and discussions were held on expanding employment opportunities. 

Plans are also underway to sign additional agreements with other Asian countries, he said.

The Prime Minister said diplomatic efforts are underway to establish visa centres in Dhaka for European countries such as North Macedonia, Serbia, Mauritius, and Portugal, where there are opportunities for sending skilled workers but no visa centres currently exist in Bangladesh. 

Once implemented, this will make it much easier to send more workers abroad, he said.

He noted that several measures have been taken to reopen labour markets in countries where Bangladeshi workers are currently restricted and to expand manpower exports to other Asian nations. 

Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) are being signed with various local governments in South Korea to facilitate the recruitment of seasonal workers, he said, adding that Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL) has already begun sending seasonal workers to South Korea.

The Prime Minister also said a Japan Cell has been established under the Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry to ensure better coordination in expanding employment opportunities in Japan.

This cell has brought together 96 sending organizations, more than 200 private Japanese language training centres, and 60 Technical Training Centres (TTCs) under a unified framework, he added.

He further stated that initiatives will be undertaken under BMET to introduce demand-based language courses and expand the number of training institutions. 

Currently, Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean language courses are being offered at 60 Technical Training Centres (TTCs), and the process of recruiting language instructors for these institutions is underway, he said.