Dhaka eyes to expand labour mkt in Eastern Europe
Reza Mahmud :
Amid constant shrinking trend of labour market abroad, Bangladesh is eyes to expand its manpower destination to Eastern European countries, sources said.
The number of Bangladeshi workers who went abroad from January to September 2025 is 420,000 workers for the first five months, while 698,558 manpower went abroad with jobs in the same period in the previous year- 2024.
Stakeholders said, Saudi Arabia remains as a major manpower destination for Bangladeshi migrant workers while the other major labour markets were suspended.
In these circumstances, members of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) urged the government to start efforts to search and expand labor markets abroad.
They said Eastern Europe is the potential new destination for Bangladeshi aspirant migrant workers as the region is hungry for foreign workers. When contacted, Reaz-Ul-Islam, former Senior Vice-President of BAIRA told The New Nation, “While the manpower was crossing borders to developed part of the continent, the countries of Eastern Europe are searching workers from Asia and Africa. Bangladesh is trying to cop the scope as our workers are suitable for working there.”
He said, several recruiting agencies are working to send Bangladeshi workers to some Eastern European countries like Romania, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria.
The expert said visa related complexications is the major barriers for sending Bangladeshi manpower to Eastern Europe, which must be addressed soon.
Meanwhile, the interim government is trying to solve the issue through diplomatic efforts.
Chief Adviser Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday underscored the need to resolve the existing visa-related complexities as Bangladesh’s labour market opportunities expand in Eastern European countries.
Noting that the visa complications have persisted since previous administrations, the Chief Adviser directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make special efforts to address the issue.
Professor Yunus gave the directive while presiding over a meeting of the National Steering Committee on the Implementation and Monitoring of Bangladesh’s Smooth and Sustainable LDC Graduation Strategy held at the Chief Adviser’s Office in Tejgaon.
Later, Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam briefed the media at the Foreign Service Academy about the meeting’s outcomes.
“The Chief Adviser observed that certain visa complications, carried over from the previous government, are still unresolved.
He instructed the Foreign Ministry to take additional measures to eliminate these hurdles,” Shafiqul said.
Highlighting emerging labour market prospects in Eastern Europe, the press secretary mentioned that during Professor Yunus’s recent visit to New York, he met with the President of Albania and the Prime Minister of Kosovo-both of whom expressed keen interest in recruiting Bangladeshi workers.
“The Chief Adviser emphasised that visa complications must not become barriers to these new opportunities,” Shafiqul added.
He noted that since most Eastern European countries do not maintain embassies in Bangladesh, many Bangladeshi workers currently need to process their visa applications through embassies based in New Delhi, India.
“This matter was discussed extensively during the meeting,” he said, adding that the Chief Adviser urged for a practical and effective solution to the problem.
Shafiqul further said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is already working on this issue and will take more coordinated steps to ensure smoother processing.
The meeting was attended by Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, Commerce Adviser Sk. Bashir Uddin, Industries Adviser Adilur Rahman Khan, Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain, Agriculture Adviser Lt. Gen. (Retd) Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser Dr Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, Principal Secretary to the Chief Adviser M Siraz Uddin Miah, Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur, NBR Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan, Special Envoy on International Affairs to the Chief Adviser Lutfey Siddiqi, Special Assistant for Posts, Telecommunications and ICT Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, Principal Coordinator for SDGs Lamiya Morshed, and senior officials of the Economic Relations Division.
Also present were BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan, FBCCI President Mahbubul Alam, DCCI President Taskin Ahmed, and Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries President Abdul Muktadir.