Increased remittance inflow

Bankers have said that the measures adopted by the central bank to check hundi have paid dividends in the form of increased remittance earning. Obviously, it was necessary to curb the business, which accounted for illegal transfer of a huge amount of money.

Apart from indicating a steady rise in the income of Bangladeshis working abroad, the remittance inflow will also play a role in strengthening the foreign exchange reserves position. So there are good signs for the economy, which had to absorb the shock of the Iraq war and the looming threat of a global recession.

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The job markets abroad are apparently shifting from a few countries that accommodated the bulk of our job seekers to new and hitherto unexplored grounds. In the past, few people from Bangladesh worked in the countries like Botswana or Madagascar. But the job market has widened and this will help lessen our dependence on South Korea, Malaysia and a few Middle Eastern countries, which have traditionally been the main job providers for Bangladeshi workers.

However, the whole issue of finding job markets for Bangladeshis must be brought under better planning and coordination. Today it is an extremely competitive area where lack of planning and preparation could be a big disadvantage. But in our case even the recruiting system is still not well defined and safe for the prospective job seekers. Many of them are still swindled by fake recruiting agents.

The increased remittance inflow is a good indicator of Bangladeshis abroad playing their due role in the economic uplift of the country. However, the government should also do its bit in exploring new job markets for its big workforce. The strategy is now part of other manpower-exporting countries' policies and plans.