The much-anticipated labour market for Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia is going to officially reopen today, after around eight years, putting an end to all speculation to the contrary.
The first batch of 97 workers is scheduled to leave Dhaka for Kuala Lumpur by a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight at 9:50pm under the Government to Government (G2G) Plus agreement between the two countries, confirmed the minister for expatriate welfare and overseas employment, Nurul Islam.
The minister, who is expected to inaugurate the first flight at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, told The Independent that the reopening of the labour market in Malaysia would help Bangladesh increase its flow of economic transactions and remittances and boost its foreign reserves.
He said 97 workers have got appointments as cargo loaders in Kuala Lumpur International Airport. More workers are expected to go to Malaysia under the new system of G2G Plus in phases by March. Two ministry officials will accompany the first batch of migrant workers.
Replying to a question, he said they would take action against recruiting agencies if any worker lodges allegations against any of them that they were taking more money than the rates fixed by the government.  
“What can we do if anyone pays additional amounts of money to such an agency… We can only take action if anyone lodges a complaint with us,” he added.
The minister said the process to send workers to KL would continue after the inauguration of the first flight carrying Bangladeshi workers tonight.
The government has fixed Tk. 37,000 for sending a worker. However, sources in the recruiting agency said they would send each worker for a reasonable amount of money, a sum that would be less than the migration cost of other countries.
Ruhul Amin Swapan, secretary-general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), said 97 workers would fly for Kuala Lumpur by BG 86 flight at 9:50pm.
He said the minister for expatriate welfare and overseas employment would inaugurate the first flight at the airport while the BAIRA leaders would see off the workers by offering them tuberoses.
The BAIRA leader expects 2,000 more

workers would be flown to Malaysia by 10 to 15 other flights later this month.
He extended thanks and gratitude, especially to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, for her special initiative and to the minister and secretary concerned for their cooperation in reopening the labour market in Malaysia. “It will open a new horizon in the manpower business and give a fillip to the economy of the country,” he added.
Under the G2G Plus agreement, the appointment of a worker requires 13 online steps: 1. The Malaysian employers send demand letters to the Bangladesh Embassy to Kuala Lumpur. 2. After the scrutiny of the demand letters, the embassy sends these to Bangladesh’s ministry of expatriate welfare and overseas employment. 3. Approved recruiting agencies apply to the ministry for recruitment approval for their workers. 4. The ministry issues its approval for such workers. 5. The agencies interview workers and complete their bio-medical tests. 6. After completion of bio-medical tests, the agencies send documents to Malaysian employers for calling visas. 7. After examining these, the employers send calling visa to the Malaysian High Commission in Dhaka and the recruiting agencies concerned. 8. The High Commission provides the seal of validity to the passports. 9. The Bangladesh ministry provides a three-day training course for the workers. 10. The workers are given immigration clearance. 11. Agencies purchase tickets and fix the flight schedule for the workers. 12. See-off at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and 13. Reception at KL International Airport.
The three recruiting agencies that are sending the workers in the first batch are: Rabbi International, Passage Associates Al Islam and ISMT Human Resources.
Sources in the ministry said though 10 recruiting agencies are involved in sending workers to Kuala Lumpur on a pilot basis, 300 to 350 agencies would gradually join the process.
The additional secretary (administration) of the ministry of expatriate welfare and overseas employment, Jabed Ahmed, said Bangladeshi workers will be employed in the construction, plantation, and manufacturing and service sectors in Malaysia under the G2G Plus agreement.
He said the ministry has so far received some 9,000 demand letters from Malaysian employers. Of these, 5,700 were approved for recruitment.
In the middle of January, Malaysian employers started issuing demand letters to the Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur to hire Bangladeshi workers under the G2G Plus agreement. The Malaysian government had stopped hiring Bangladeshi workers in 2009 after the influx of a large number of illegal workers between 2007 and 2008.
On February 18 last year, the two countries signed the G2G Plus deal, involving the recruiting agencies to select and send workers to Malaysia in five sectors to preclude malpractices.
BAIRA sources said each worker under the G2G Plus scheme would get at least 1,000 RM (equivalent to around Tk. 18,000) as salary per month for eight hours of daily work. Besides, a worker would be allowed to work overtime, if feasible. In addition, a worker will have insurance coverage and receive free accommodation facilities from the employers.  
Each worker will be allowed to work for three years and up to 10 years, with renewal of the contract by the empowers.