Dhaka: After long seven years, the Ministry of Labour and Social Development of Saudi Arabia has lifted the ban on the recruitment of Bangladesh workers. 

The opening of the recruitment is indeed the culmination of unremitting efforts of Bangladesh, said the Foreign Ministry here on Thursday mentioning the ban had been in force for the past seven years except for the domestic service workers. 

It was high on agenda during the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the KSA in June 2016.  

“Certainly, her fruitful meeting with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud greatly contributed to the outcome,” said the Foreign Ministry statement.  

The people and the government of Bangladesh express their deep gratitude to King Salman for this generous gesture towards Bangladesh and for his continued support to the country, it said.  

Currently, there are about 1.3 million Bangladesh workers in the Kingdom, including around 60,000 housemaids. 

The new decision will pave the way to build strong economic ties between the two brotherly countries for mutual benefits, Bangladesh hopes. 

With the lift, now all categories of workers, including skilled and semiskilled as well as professionals, such as doctors, engineers, teachers and nurses from Bangladesh, could be recruited for working in Saudi Arabia. 

The prime minister, during her visit to the Kingdom, urged Saudi investors to invest in Bangladesh, including in the skill-development training-centers and certification and assured them of all-out support and cooperation.  

By now, the Saudi investors have entered into an agreement with BMET for 4-training centers in Dhaka, Chittagong, Manikganj and Mymensingh. 

Earlier, Bangladesh Ambassador Golam Moshi shared the news in Saudi media outlets. 

The envoy recalled that opening the recruitment channels from Bangladesh is subsequent to the meeting between Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in June.  

“We are thankful to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman for allowing us to resume recruitment,” Arab News quoted Moshi adding that the Kingdom has always stood with Bangladesh in good times and bad. 

“Visas for male domestics were issued only from June, and there is a sizable number coming into the Kingdom regularly,” he said, adding that 6,000 female workers on average are arriving in the Kingdom per month. “We have around 48 categories of workers serving in all parts of the Kingdom,” the official added. 

In January, Minister of Labor Mufrej Al-Haqabani and Bangladesh Minister for Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Nurul Islam decided to increase the number of Bangla housemaids. 

Both ministers agreed to enhance cooperation in the manpower sector by addressing issues to reduce migration cost, imparting training to Saudi-bound workers, and recruiting more male workers for mutual benefits.