97.70 lakh Bangladeshi expatriates work in 176 countries

From 2009 to 2023, a total of 97,07,250 workers from Bangladesh, including 10,85,117 female workers, have been employed in 176 countries across the world.

Finance Minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali informed this while placing the proposed national budget for FY2024-25 in parliament.

He said, “Overseas employment is one of the main sectors of Bangladesh's economy. The remittance sent by expatriate workers is playing a significant role in increasing the foreign exchange reserves and making the country's economy self-reliant by reducing dependence on foreign aid.”

He noted that in FY 2009-10, the amount of remittance was $10.99 billion, which doubled to $21.61 billion in FY2022-23.

To maintain the remittance flow through overseas employment and to meet the demand of the global labour market, emphasis has been laid on skill development through various technical trainings, alongside the importance of learning foreign languages.

From 2009 to December 2023, a total of 13,70,70 individuals have been provided skill development training through various technical training centres.

Additionally, training in different foreign languages including Japanese, English, Korean, and Chinese are being provided through 43 technical training centres (TTCs).

Considering the importance of overseas employment in the economy of Bangladesh, steps have been taken to establish 50 more TTCs in addition to the existing 104 TTCs to ensure trade-based training in FY2024-25. Furthermore, the project titled 'To Provide Driving Training for Employment at Home and Abroad' has successfully provided driving training to a total of 1 lakh 2 thousand and 400 individuals in the past 5 years.

Mahmood Ali said the government has allocated Tk.500 crore to the Probashi Kallyan Bank to provide loans to expatriate workers returning home on easy terms.

From this fund, until March 2024, loans amounting to Tk.293.65 crore have been provided to 12,890 borrowers.

Besides, from 2009 to February 2024, an amount of Tk. 1436.76 crore as financial grants has been provided to the families of the deceased migrant workers who legally went abroad, he said.