Bangladesh has sent around 35,000 workers to Malaysia so far under the government-to-government (G2G) plus scheme as against 108,000 demand letters, revealing a slow pace in sending manpower to that country, sources said. Ten Bangladeshi recruiting agencies that have got approval to send manpower to Malaysia, the second biggest labour market for Bangladesh, could only manage to send 3,500 workers on an average in the past seven months.

If workers were sent at such a pace, it may require the 10 agencies 14 months more to send manpower in line with the existing demand letters, the sources said. It was time to involve more recruiting agencies to expedite the export of manpower to Malaysia, the sources added.

Monsur Ahmed Kalam, former secretary general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), said delay in receiving medical reports from Malaysia and getting clearance from the ministry concerned was the main reason for the slow pace in sending manpower to Malaysia.

Giving approval to only 10 agencies from among 130 skilled agencies to send workers to Malaysia has also slowed the process, Kalam added.

Of the 10 agencies, only three have the required expertise, and the rest have no skills or efficiency and they take undue time to process visas, he alleged.

Kalam, who is also the proprietor of Akash Bhraman, demanded that the government must allow all expert agencies to send workers to Malaysia in view of the country’s interests.

“I think 1.5 lakh to two lakh workers would have been sent to Kuala Lumpur in the past seven months if all the expert agencies were involved in the process instead of just 10,” he added.

Ruhul Amin Swapan, secretary general of BAIRA, however, countered that sending manpower to Malaysia was going on in full swing. “Around 8,000 to 10,000 workers are being sent to Malaysia each month. The pace will increase in the coming months,” he said.

The BAIRA leader said that the designated agencies have so far sent 35,000 workers after the launch of manpower export under the G2G plus scheme on March 10.

Bangladesh’s high commissioner to Malaysia, Md Shahidul Islam, confirmed that after examining the applications, they have sent around 100,000 demand letters to the expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment ministry.

Asked whether the expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment ministry would take any measures to allow more agencies in the process, the minister concerned, Nurul Islam, said they would give clearance to those agencies that would be able to bring demand letters for visas.