Swapon urges practical plan for sending skilled manpower to Europe

The need to prepare a practical roadmap for deploying skilled manpower to Europe was emphasized by Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapon on Saturday, who observed that remittance earners play a key role in bolstering the national economy, BSS reports.

"Remittances sent by expatriates are one of the driving forces of our economy. The government and relevant stakeholders must work together to enhance this flow and create a new labour market abroad," he said.

The minister made the remarks while speaking at a seminar titled 'Ten lakh skilled manpower in the European labour market: Presentation of the masterplan (2026-2031) and ensuring the state rights of expatriates' at Jatiya Press Club this afternoon.
Italy-Bangla Shamannay Unnayan Samity and Bangladesh Probashi Unnayan Samity jointly arranged the seminar.

He said it is very important to increase the scope of income remittance to overcome this situation and make the economy self-reliant. 
Presenting the current context of foreign exchange earnings, the minister said, "Our main areas of earning foreign exchange are basically two - the ready-made garment (RMG) sector and remittances. Every year, we earn about US$ 40-42 billion from RMG sector and about US$ 20 billion from remittances. But to survive in this import-dependent economy, it is not enough to rely only on these two sectors."

He put emphasis on expanding the scope of export products and further expanding the export market for employment and human resources abroad to ensure remittance flow.

He said Bangladesh is currently in the golden age of demographic dividend. "We need to send this huge working manpower not only as workers but also trained with advanced knowledge and skills and send it to the global market," he added.

Describing expatriate Bangladeshis as 'ambassadors of the country', the minister stressed the importance of ensuring that workers abroad maintain discipline and comply with local laws. He also emphasised providing them with language training, skills development and moral guidance.

Swapon assured that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting would extend full support in awareness campaigns and publicity efforts in this regard.

At the seminar, a master plan was presented aiming to send 10 lakh skilled workers to the European Union labour market over the next five years. Participants also discussed measures for ensuring expatriates' voting rights and reserved seats for them in the Jatiya Sangsad.

Director of the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) Md Salah Uddin, its Deputy Director Mohammad Ali Mortuza and BNP's All European unit convener Mohiuddin Ahmed Jhintu also spoke at the seminar with Italy-Bangla Shamannay Unnayan Samity founder president Shah Muhammad Taifur Rahman Choton in the chair.