Skilled manpower export to boost remittance inflow

Lenin Rahman:

The manpower export of the country witnessed robust growth from the beginning of the last year, but the remittance inflow is gradually squeezing for multifarious impediments including the sending of unskilled migrant workers, profitable and hassle-free service of the informal channel from the banking channel, and depreciation of money against US dollar.

Shah Jamal, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Amial Group has underscored the need for sending skilled workforces for attaining higher benefits for the migrant workers as well ensuring more inward remittance inflow in the country.

“We are mostly sending unskilled and semi-skilled migrant workers to various overseas destinations, but they are not getting higher wages and social respect from the respective countries. If we want to gain more inward remittance inflow in the country, surely we will have to send skilled workers”, told the International Recruitment Expert to the Daily Tribunal yesterday.

Despite facing pandemic adversity, Bangladesh send some 12.68 lakh workers abroad in the last two years of which 57 percent were unskilled workers, according to the latest disclosure of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment, and Training (BMET).

The Amial Group Chairman Shah Jamal expressed deep concern for the prevailing remittance inflow in recent months. The hard-earned money of the migrant workers is squeezing at a time when the economy of the country is facing an acute crisis of foreign exchange reserves, lamented Shah Jamal.

The inward remittance inflow has played one of the most impact-oriented contributions in maintaining the steady growth of Bangladesh for a long time. Still, the current remittance inflow is not satisfactory against the rising number of migrant workers, Shah Jamal said adding that the sluggishness of the vital component of the external sector income is going against the post-pandemic economic revamping mechanism.

“Overseas job diversification has got momentum in recent months, but we are mostly sending the unskilled manpower those are not getting higher wages and social respect from the respective countries”, added Shah Jamal.

The international security expert urged overseas job seekers to increase their professional skills for getting higher wages from foreign countries as well as ensuring higher remittance inflow in the country.

The government has undertaken the initiative to develop the skills of overseas job seekers, but they are not taking adequate skill development training from the respective public or private institutions, Shah Jamal claimed.

The Amial Group Chairman urged overseas job seekers to receive the skill development program before entering the international labor market for the interest of themselves and the economy of the country as well.

The number of migrant workers increased significantly, but the remittance inflow is not increasing because the lion’s share of the remittances is entered by the informal channel, especially Hyundai.

Money transferred by migrant workers through the official channel dropped 6.65 percent to $21.28 billion in 2022 from $22 billion a year earlier. In the last two years, the country received $45.8 billion in remittances against a target of $60 billion and the remittance inflows to the country declined by 15 percent year-on-year in FY22, according to a media report.

Commencing on the negative growth of the remittance inflow, Shah Jamal said workers are heavily dependent on the hundi due to lower currency rates of the banking channel.

Illegal capital flights and remittances from abroad are entering the country mainly through hundi and the government is depriving in adding huge chunks of public income to the national exchequer, mentioned Amial Group Chairman Shah Jamal.

In the last fiscal year 2020-21, expatriates sent remittances worth $24.8 billion through the banking channel, Bangladesh Bank data disclosed.

Hundi is mainly liable for this negative impact of expatriate income, so, we have to discourage the illegal Hundi channel at any cost to improve the overall situation of the country. The illegal channel Hundi is offering higher benefits against the banks, so, the bank exchange rate should be increased”, added Shah Jamal.

Domestic commercial banks, country money exchange, foreign banks, and hundi are carrying different rates for foreign currency exchange in the country and the expatriates are being encouraged in sending money, Shah Jamal observed.

The government is offering a 2.5 percent incentive for sending remittances in banking channels, but the expatriates are availing a much higher exchange rate in hundi, the international recruiting expert explained.

Shah Jamal urged the banks for providing hassle-free services to the remittance receivers as the customers have to face various hardships. In many cases, the lack of a legitimate identity card/NID or lack of knowledge about the importance of carrying an identity card is a significant barrier to increasing expatriate income from banks, Shah Jamal opined.

 On the other hand, the remitters are sending money by hundi without paying any charge, encouraging the expatriates to prefer the illegal channel. The banks should provide prompt service to deliver the remittances to the authorized person, he opined.

When the expatriates informed their family members to contact the respective bank to withdraw their hard-earned money they go to the bank and wait for hours at the counter, Shah Jamal observed. The banking complexity is discouraging the remitters to utilize the legal or banking channel for sending their hard-earned money, Shah Jamal pointed out.

The Amial Group Chairman urged the government for increasing the incentives for the expatriates from the existing offer. Many expatriates are silently sending money through Hundi because of the poor enforcement of the money laundering act. He recommended ensuring the proper implementation of the money laundering act to get higher remittance inflow and to attain higher economic growth.