United News of Bangladesh

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has instructed the authorities concerned to facilitate loans for students intending to pursue higher studies abroad. State Minister for Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Nurul Hoque  Nur disclosed this while talking to reporters after a meeting with the Prime Minister at Secretariat on Tuesday morning. “The Prime Minister instructed us to provide loans of up to Tk 10 lakh through the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment for students intend to go to countries like Korea, Japan, China and Germany, particularly to support bank guarantees or solvency requirements,” he said. Nur said the Prime Minister asked to designate Probashi Kallyan Bank, a bank under the ministry, to provide the loans so that they could be disbursed directly through the ministry. The state minister said discussions were also held on the potential challenges and opportunities for Bangladesh’s labour market in the Middle East amid the ongoing conflict. “Although a significant portion of our labour market depends on the Middle East, we expect that Bangladesh will not face major setbacks. Rather, there could be increased demand for our workers as infrastructure rebuilding will be needed,” he said. Nur said the Prime Minister also stressed the importance of learning  third languages noting that many Bangladeshi workers are forced to take low-paying jobs due to language barriers. The state minister said discussions were also held on expediting the process of sending 100,000 workers to Japan under an existingMemorandum  of Understanding , as well as exploring opportunities in Europe. He said the Prime Minister earlier instructed the Foreign Ministry to persuade European countries to provide consular services in Bangladesh to ease visa processing. “Some countries have already started offering consular services here, and the Prime Minister has asked to ensure that others do the same,” he said. Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury, Prime Minister’s Adviser Mahdi Amin, Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam and other senior officials attended the meeting, presided over by the Prime Minister.