Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Golam Sarwar said Bangladesh plays a "pivotal role" in advancing the SAARC process. He said this when he paid a call on Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday. The SAARC Secretary General was accompanied by Hari Prasad Odari, Director (Poverty Alleviation & Information) at the SAARC Secretariat. Chief Adviser Yunus hopeful SAARC can give dividends to people of the region if revitalised Abdul Motaleb Sarker, Director General (SAARC & BIMSTEC) was also present during the meeting. The Secretary General briefed the Foreign Adviser on the various ongoing activities of SAARC, including convening the next session of the Programming Committee in the first quarter of 2025, activities of regional centres, and celebrating the 40th anniversary of SAARC Charter Day. The Foreign Adviser told the Secretary General that Bangladesh stands ready to play a proactive role to revitalize the organization. He advised the Secretary General to work closely with the other SAARC Member States to revitalize SAARC. Broken criminal justice system needs to be fixed: CA's Press Secretary He emphasised the importance of holding a Foreign Secretary level (Standing Committee) meeting for advancing its activities at the functional level. He assured the Secretary General of Bangladesh’s full support in facilitating the SAARC Secretariat to fulfil its mandate and strengthening the SAARC process.

Bangladesh High Commissioner to Malaysia Golam Sarwar on Thursday said the High Commission is optimistic that "Chakrir Khoj" job portal will complement the initiatives of the Malaysian government for making the ongoing recalibration programme a success. This initiative is to help the recalibration programme declared by the Malaysian government without prejudice to ongoing negotiations for the recruitment of new workers from Bangladesh, said the High Commissioner. The job portal was launched by the High Commission only to facilitate the ongoing legalisation process, as they were requested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Immigration of Malaysia, during various meetings, to help the Recalibration Programme whatever way possible, Sarwar said in Kuala Lumpur. Read Initiatives taken to help workers get jobs in Malaysia without hassle: Envoy He said the High Commission is optimistic that under the guidance of the Minister for Human Resources of Malaysia and Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister of Bangladesh, the ongoing negotiations for the recruitment of new workers from Bangladesh will be concluded at the earliest. Bangladesh High Commission launched the job portal as part of its responsibility for the greater welfare of Bangladeshi nationals in Malaysia, said the High Commissioner. Considering the importance of the initiative, he said, the Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister attended the virtual launching ceremony as the chief guest while State Minister for Foreign Affairs was the special guest.  Read Comprehensive database for migrant workers launched with IOM support Secretary of Bangladesh Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment and the Deputy Director General of Malaysian Department of Labour were also present in the virtual ceremony as special guests. Bangladesh High Commission has recently launched the online job portal "Chakrir Khoj" targeting "only the illegal Bangladeshi workers" in Malaysia to find suitable employers. Moreover, the High Commission has received requests from several Malaysian employers to help them to find suitable Bangladeshi undocumented workers for employment under the recalibration programme, as the ongoing recalibration programme do not allow any third party vendors to help the employers to search for undocumented foreign workers, said the High Commissioner. Read Biman to run special flights to 5 countries from Apr 17 Malaysia is one of the most popular destinations for Bangladeshi workers. Many enter the country legally and then stay past their visa’s expiration date. Last year, when the world was gripped by the Covid-19 pandemic, only 125 Bangladeshis were employed in Malaysia, according to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET). A year before that only 545 Bangladeshis had gone to Malaysia with jobs. In 2018, the number was 175,927. Read Best Job Searching Websites in Bangladesh In 2019, Bangladeshis expatriates in Malaysia sent back US$1,278.57 million, which was 6.97 percent of the total remittance received that year. Last year, the figure was $1,735.34 million – 7.98 percent of the total inbound remittance, according to BMET. From 1976 to February 2021, officially 1,057,185 Bangladeshis had gone to Malaysia for work. Read Dhaka seeks KL's support to finalise protocol on manpower recruitment