KSA keen to set up training centre to recruit workers
Saudi recruitment committee tells FBCCI leaders
Star Business Report
Saudi Arabia is keen to establish a training centre in Dhaka to facilitate more recruitment of skilled and semi-skilled manpower from Bangladesh.The training centre will help shape skilled and semi-skilled workers for sending to Saudi Arabia as most of the Bangladeshi workers are unskilled, a visiting Saudi delegation said yesterday. The six-member delegation of Saudi National Recruitment Committee (Sanarcom) led by its Chairman Waleed A Swaidan discussed the issue with the leaders of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) in Dhaka. Speaking at the meeting, Swaidan expressed keen interest to recruit more professionals including doctors, engineers, teachers and nurses from Bangladesh as there is a huge demand of such manpower in Saudi Arabia. Around 1.5 million Bangladeshis are working in Saudi Arabia now and Bangladesh products have a good market there to meet the demands of those people, he said. Sanarcom Vice Chairman BJ Al Madani said workers from India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines are earning more as they are more skilled than the Bangladeshis. A training centre, in this regard, will help Bangladesh send skilled workers, he added. The Saudi delegation also showed interest to invest in Bangladesh and offered all-out cooperation in exporting to Saudi Arabia. "If any problem arises in exporting Bangladeshi products to Saudi Arabia, please inform us and we will take steps to remove the barriers," said Swaidan. Responding to low pay of Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia, Swaidan said he would look into the issue. Regarding huge visa-processing fee, the Sanarcom chairman said if the middlemen in obtaining visa can be avoided, the expenses will reduce automatically. Kamaluddin Ahmed, acting president of the FBCCI, urged the Saudi Arabian entrepreneurs to invest in 100 percent foreign owned or joint venture projects in the country's export processing zones. He underscored the need for making the visa processing procedure as simple as possible in recruiting more workers from Bangladesh. According to official statistics, trade balance has been in favour of Saudi Arabia for 13 years. Bangladesh export to Saudi Arabia amounted to US$17.89 million in the 2003-04 financial year, while import from the oil-rich country was $80.73 million in the same year.
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