Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed on Thursday said that Malaysia will start taking workers from Bangladesh this month.

He was speaking at a press briefing after a Joint Working Group meeting with Malaysian representatives at the ministry’s office in the capital’s Eskaton.

Malaysian Human Resource Minister M Saravanan and some other officials represented their country at the meeting.

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Replying to a question Imran said Malaysia will select both the workers and the recruiting agencies according to Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries.

“There are a total of 1,520 licensed recruiting agencies in Bangladesh. According to the MoU it’s the right of Malaysia to choose recruiting agencies of their liking”, he said. 

Imran added that Malaysia will continue to work towards ensuring zero migration costs. There are some expenses like passport fees and medical costs that have to be borne by the workers themselves.

“Malaysia will cover much of the costs including plane fares”, he said.

The minister also said that earlier, the cost for a single worker for going to Malaysia used to be Tk 1,60,000. This year, the amount will be much less.

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“Malaysia will take stern actions if any recruiting agency breaches the rules while sending workers to the Southeast Asian nation”, added Imran.

According to him Malaysia will take a total of five lakh workers in the next five years from Bangladesh.

Secretary of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry  Ahmed Munirus Salehin  informed that Malaysia plans to take at least two lakh workers from Bangladesh this year.

“Malaysia is interested to take security guards and domestic workers from Bangladesh in the future. Their salaries will be RM 1,500 per month per worker. Malaysia will also ensure their accommodation free of cost”, said Munirus.