Bangladesh receives $22.07b in remittance last year

Bangladesh sent 6,17,209 workers overseas and received a record $22,070.87 million ($22.07 billion) in remittance in 2021 amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Describing the trend of overseas employment as satisfactory amid the pandemic, an official of expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment ministry said, overall manpower export from Bangladesh would increase gradually, reports BSS.

Although the income of expatriates has declined for six consecutive months due to the second outbreak of the Covid-19, a record amount of remittance came to Bangladesh in the just-ended year.

About the overseas labour market during the pandemic, the official said that the government collected information about the overseas labour market through diplomatic missions.

Besides, experts advised the government to invest in skilled manpower for the post-pandemic world as they believe the demand for jobs of nurses, doctors and other healthcare workers would increase in many countries.

According to data in the ministry, the government has already set up many training centres in different districts along with skill development programmes to create skilful job seekers.

The government encourages documented overseas employment, as an important component of earning foreign currency.

Bangladesh has become the 8th largest remittance-receiving country and the 6th largest migrant-sending country in the world, according to the World Migration Report 2022.

Earlier, the government declared the overseas employment sector as a “thrust sector” with maximum stress on further expanding job markets for the Bangladeshi job seekers abroad.