$10.72 b remittance from migrant wokers in 2009

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2010/01/19/news0501.htm

$10.72 b remittance from migrant wokers in 2009
UNB, Dhaka

The remittances from Bangladesh’s migrant workers contributed a record US $ 10.72 billion in 2009 although the country’s manpower export declined by 46 percent last year due to global economic meltdown.

President of Bangladesh Association of International Recruitment Agencies (BAIRA) Ghulam Mustafa stated this at a press conference at BAIRA auditorium on Monday morning.

He said: “It’s a great achievement and historical event that our migrant workers contributed with a substantial remittance US $ 10.72 billion last year (2009) while the amount was US $ 8.98 billion in 2008.”

The BAIRA chief informed that they exported an average of some 398,121 manpower every year over the last 10 years. Despite nearly 46 percent decline in manpower export due to global economic recession, some 475,278 manpower were exported from Bangladesh in 2009, he said.

He also informed that some 72,210 migrant workers returned home due to various complications but only 1,250 of them carried valid passport.

The BAIRA president hoped that they would be able to export at least 600,000 persons this year, as the labor markets are gradually expanding in the Gulf and middle-east countries. Foreign remittance income for the country will reach at least US $ 11 billion by 2010, he said.

He, however, stressed the need for Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives to reach the goal.

Mentioning the recent visit of the government delegation to Libya, Ghulam Mustafa said the labor market is expanding in Libya day by day and there is scope for more Bangladeshi manpower going on employment to Libya.

He put forward a set of recommendations including steps against illegal passport holders, ensuring hassle-free immigration service at the airport, strengthening the labor wings of Bangladesh missions abroad, setting up technical training institutes at upazila level, and ensuring skilled immigration management.

BB expects remittance income to cross $11b mark this fiscal

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=91094

BB expects remittance income to cross $11b mark this fiscal
Siddique Islam

Bangladesh Bank expects the inward remittance to record more than US$ 11 billion by the end of the current fiscal as a special move has already been made to increase its flow from different parts of the world.

“We expect that the inflow of remittances may cross $11 billion mark by the end of this fiscal,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE, adding that the central bank had estimated the figure on the basis of the last six months flow of remittances.

Bangladesh received $5.535 billion during the July-December period of fiscal 2009-10, registering a 22.89 per cent growth over the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics.

The latest figure shows that despite the slowdown of overseas jobs, inflow of remittance has maintained a robust growth — a continuation of the trend in last fiscal year when remittance grew 22.41 per cent, the BB officials said.

“We expect the upward trend of inward remittances to continue in the near future,” another BB official said, adding that the stable exchange rate of the local currency against the US dollar was also contributing to higher flow of inward remittances.

The central bank earlier took a series of measures to encourage expatriate Bangladeshis to send their hard earned money through formal banking channel instead of the illegal “hundi” system to boost the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

As part of the measures, the BB issued 26 more licences to 14 commercial banks recently for setting up exchange houses in different parts of the world aiming at expediting remittance inflow.

The central bank has, so far, given approval to establish 295 exchange houses and set up 840 drawing arrangements abroad to boost flow of remittance through formal channels.

Besides, the BB has given permissions to 13 both local and foreign commercial banks to disburse remittances using networks of 14 non-governmental organisations (NGOs.), including BRAC and ASA, across the country.

Four state-run commercial banks and dozens of private commercial banks have also stepped up efforts to increase remittance flow from the Middle East, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Italy and the United States.

“We’ve a plan to establish a good number of exchange houses at Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia and the countries in the Meddle East to speed up remittances from the counties using official channel,” Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Agrani Bank Limited Syed Abu Naser Bukhtear Ahmed told the FE Saturday.

He also said the board of directors of the state-owned bank has already given permission for setting up the exchange houses aboard. “We’re seeking permission from the central bank in this connection,” he added.

“Our efforts will continue to establish new contacts with overseas exchange houses so that our overseas workers can find it easier to send money back home,” a senior official of a private commercial bank said.

Some banks are trying to expand their network to expedite the delivery of remittances to the beneficiaries across the country, he added.

NBR posts 18pc revenue growth

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=124837

NBR posts 18pc revenue growth
Star Business Report

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has recorded 18 percent growth in revenue earnings in the July-December period of the current fiscal year, compared to the same period a year ago.

The tax administration collected Tk 26,437.71 crore against the Tk 26,113.91 crore target for the July-December period.

Revenue from import grew 9.44 percent, while value added tax (VAT) and income tax posted 26.31 percent and 22.68 percent growth.

But other taxes, including travel tax, have recorded 8.38 percent negative growth, according to statistics disclosed by NBR at a press conference in Dhaka yesterday.

A total of 42,522 new taxpayers have been included in the tax net in the last six months. The board had earlier launched a programme to net four lakh new taxpayers by June.

Dr Nasiruddin Ahmed, chairman of NBR, blamed complicated laws and staff shortage for the poor tax collection system.

“We are taking a series of measures to strengthen revenue collections. We are revising the rates of VAT and customs duty and taking motivational steps to increase revenue.”

The NBR will place a draft of modernised VAT and customs rules at a public seminar on February 11 and seek recommendations from stakeholders, including taxpayers and relevant government agencies.

“Simultaneously, we are taking measures to boost our Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) to spot tax evasion cases, which will ultimately help increase revenue collections,” he added.

Ahmed said thousands of pending cases are hindering revenue growth. More than 18,000 tax evasion cases that involve nearly Tk 8,000 crore in revenue are now pending with the High Court.

The NBR chief said two benches have already been formed at the High Court Division to try bank-related tax evasion cases.

However, two dedicated benches will be set up in a month or two to deal with NBR-related cases, he said.

Jahanara Siddiqui, member (customs) of NBR, was also present at the conference.

Online job vacancies, job seekers, employers rise sharply in ’09

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=91206

Online job vacancies, job seekers, employers rise sharply in ’09
Jasim Uddin Haroon

The number of online job vacancies has almost doubled in 2009 than in 2008 mainly due to quick response from job seekers, officials of the jobsites said Sunday.

Bdjobs, the country’s largest jobsite, said it has posted 39,500 job vacancies during 2009 against 19,200 in 2008.

Jobs A1, another leading jobsite, said it has posted some 65,000 jobs in 2009, while the number was some 47,000 in 2008.

Officials of the jobsites said the number of employers also increased in 2009 against 2008.

“Both the number of online vacancies and employers had increased sharply in 2009, as the employers get quick response against the vacancies,” said Fahim Mashrur, chief executive officer of Bdjobs.

According to Bdjobs, 4,600 companies, both national and multinational, sought online applications from the country’s potential job-seekers in 2009, whether the number was 2,400 in 2008.

Jobs A1 chief executive officer Md Faisal Ahmed said some 2,000 companies sought online applications in 2009 against 1,200 in 2008.

However, they said they do not know how many applicants get jobs after online CV submission, as the jobsites can only calculate job vacancies after posting.

Bangladesh has around 30 jobsites, which act as bridges between the potential job-seekers and the employers.

Remittance on the rise

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=124835

Remittance on the rise
Star Business Report

Remittance increased by 21 percent in the first seven months of the current fiscal year and stood at $6.48 billion at end-January.

The remittance inflow amounted to $950.92 million in January, while the amount was $876.33 million in December.

However, the recent negative trend in manpower export so far could not cast any shadow on the remittance inflow.

A Bangladesh Bank official said remittance earning went up as semi-skilled manpower export increased. Also banks have taken steps to boost the remittance inflow, the official said.

Buro opens fast-track remittance system

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=128456

Buro opens fast-track remittance system
Bss, Dhaka

A remittance delivery system was launched yesterday, aiming to fast-track the remittance inflow into the country.

Buro, a micro-finance institution, introduced the system in cooperation with six private banks, a cash management company and an IT firm. The new system promises to ensure secured and timely payment to recipients across the country.

Under the system, Buro will issue Cashlink cards and the beneficiaries can get instant cash by using these cards from Buro branches and cash points across the country.

“This card-based delivery arrangement will reduce the need for cash balances and will also help promote savings habit among the card-holders,” said Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman who inaugurated the system at a city hotel.

Manpower export to S Korea to pick up again next month

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=96181

Manpower export to S Korea to pick up again next month
A Z M Anas

Migration of Bangladeshi workers to South Korea will pick up again as Seoul is unveiling quota next month for labour exporting nations including Bangladesh under its special job scheme, officials said Wednesday.

South Korean companies, hammered by the global financial and economic crisis, have put off taking in Bangladeshi workers since March 2009, just a year after it began hiring from Bangladesh under the Employment Permit System (EPS).

The US$1.0 trillion South Korean economy, heavily reliant on exports, was hit hard when demand for merchandise in the developed world crimped in the wake of the global financial crisis. That also sapped demand for foreign workers.

“Hopefully, the issuance of job offer will begin in time and sending of workers will resume soon,” Begum Shamsun Nahar, managing director of Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Ltd. said.

Ms Nahar said Dhaka and Seoul are also taking steps to renew the two-nation manpower deal, which expired last year.

Korean Labour Ministry officials, now visiting Bangladesh, also echoed the same views, saying recruitment from Bangladesh and 14 other nations would pick up as the Asia’s fourth largest economy has sprung back to life.

The BOESL head said some 2500 Bangladeshi workers secured jobs, mostly in the Korean manufacturing sector, since 2008 when Bangladesh began catering migrants to the labour market of Korea.

Officials at the BOESL estimated that around 5,000 Bangladeshi jobseekers were waiting for job offer as Korea suspended new recruitment.

“The delay in their recruitment is creating both economic hardship and mental agony for the workers,” the BOESL official said.

Bangladeshi workers used to go to South Korea since 1994 through private recruiting agents under the industrial trainee system (ITS), which was replaced later by EPS.

Out of 2710 job offers received, officials said around 2500 workers landed factory jobs under the EPS after completion of all procedures.

Under the MoU, two government agencies-Bangladesh Overseas Employment Services Limited (BOESL) of Bangladesh and Human Resources Development of Korea-are entrusted with the exclusive responsibility to hire Bangladeshi workers.

Bangladeshi workers living in South Korea sent home over $18 million in 2009, according to central bank figures.

Ms Nahar said the introduction of EPS has substantially reduced the cost of migration and exploitation of workers.

She said a worker can secure job in South Korea, spending just Tk 54,000, which is much lower than Tk 84,000 in official fees for employment in Malaysia.

But she said the wages are much higher in South Korea, compared to most other traditional manpower markets in Asia, which hosts the bulk of Bangladeshi workers.

In Bangladesh, international labour migration has rapidly gained prominence as one of the main employment generating sectors and one of the largest sources of foreign exchange earnings.

Over a period of 33 years, between 1976 and 2008, more than 6.26 million Bangladeshi workers found overseas jobs, according to official figures.

The annual outflow has been steadily growing, peaking at 875,000 in 2008 while the remittances sent by migrant workers through legal channels alone also touched the peak last year, amounting to over US$ 10 billion.

Nine-month remittance flow exceeds $8.0 billion

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=96915&date=2010-04-05

Nine-month remittance flow exceeds $8.0 billion
FE Report

Remittances from expatriate Bangladeshis exceeded US$8.0 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal, marking a rise of 17.36 per cent over the corresponding period of last fiscal.

The country received $8.254 billion in remittance during the July-March period of the fiscal 2009-10 compared with $7.033 billion received in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics released Sunday.

“The flow of inward remittances is at a satisfactory level,” a senior official of Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE, adding that the inflow of remittance might cross $11.50 billion by the end of the fiscal.

The remittances from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad were estimated at $941.31 million in March, up by $113.35 million from the level of the previous month. In February last the remittances stood at $827.96 million.

The latest figure shows that despite decline in overseas jobs, the remittance inflow has maintained a robust growth in continuation of last fiscal’s trend, when remittances grew by 22.41 per cent, the central bank officials said.

They said the central bank was working continuously by providing policy supports to the banks also raising awareness among people about using the banking channel, instead of illegal ‘hundi’, for remitting their money home.

A week-long roadshow ended at Tentulia in the country’s northern Panchagarh district on April 2, which would help increase the inflow of remittance in the near future, they added.

Besides, the central bank earlier took a series of measures to encourage expatriate Bangladeshis to send their hard-earned money through the formal banking channel, instead of using illegal “hundi” system, to boost the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

Four state-run commercial banks and dozens of private commercial banks have stepped up efforts to increase the remittance flow from the Middle East, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Italy and the United States.

“We’re establishing new contacts with overseas exchange houses so that our overseas workers can find it easy to send money back home,” Managing Director of the National Credit and Commerce (NCC) Bank Limited Nurul Amin told the FE, adding that some banks were trying to set up their own exchange houses in different parts of the world.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $10.22 billion Sunday due to the robust growth in remittance flow.

NCC Bank to channel remittance from Japan

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=135508

NCC Bank to channel remittance from Japan
Star Business Report

A local private commercial bank has scoped out for the first time to remit money from the expatriate Bangladeshis in Japan.

To this end, an agreement was signed between NCC Bank and Itaú Unibanco SA, a Brazilian bank in Japan, on April 16.

“We expect millions of US dollar will be remitted every year through the banking channel,” Nurul Amin, managing director of NCC Bank, told The Daily Star yesterday.

Per transaction will cost 2,500 Japanese yen ($25), an amount less than half of the cost charged by money transfer companies, he said.

According to the banker, nearly 20,000 Bangladeshis are working in Japan and they earn more than their countrymen working in Europe, Middle East and Malaysia etc.

The minimum wage in Japan is $5,000 a month.

It is surprising why banks in Bangladesh failed to set up link with the banks in Japan to facilitate remittances through formal channel, Amin said, pointing to the fact that expatriate Bangladeshis in Japan are used to send money through informal channel, known as ‘hundi’.

“We’ve got huge response there. The initiative is already clicked with opening of 300 remittance accounts in a few days,” said seemingly enthusiastic Nurul Amin.

A remitter can use 26,000 postal ATMs (automated teller machines) in Japan and the money will destine to Bangladesh within the same day. Beneficiaries in Bangladesh can receive the money in a day.

NCC Bank has already tied up with TMSS, a local NGO that has countrywide network to deliver the remittance money to the beneficiaries within the shortest possible time.

The NCC managing director hoped Bangladesh’s remittance would swell further from nearly $10 billion in fiscal 2008-09. Remittances hit $8 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, marking a rise of 17.36 percent over the same period a year ago.

Itaú Unibanco is a publicly quoted bank with headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil. The bank is the result of the merger of Banco Itaú and Unibanco, which occurred on November 4, 2008 to form Itaú Unibanco Holding SA, the largest financial conglomerate in the Southern Hemisphere and is the 10th largest bank in the world by market value.

Local hospitality institute to get foreign expertise

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=136397

Local hospitality institute to get foreign expertise
Star Business Report

Vocational training is important to develop the country’s unskilled or semi-skilled workforce to support the private sector, speakers said at a function in Dhaka yesterday.

The ceremony was organised to mark the signing of a cooperation agreement between PUM Netherlands and the Institute of Hotel Management and Hospitality Ltd (IHMH) in Bangladesh.

The institute will receive technical assistance for three years (2010-12) from PUM Netherlands to improve its institutional capabilities to international standards to meet the growing need of professionals in the hotel and hospitality sector of Bangladesh.

Frans Schiereck, country co-ordinator of PUM Netherlands for Bangladesh and Nepal, and Rizwan Bin Farouq, chairman of IHMH, signed the agreement.

The assistance, which will be provided under PUM’s Vocational Education for Higher Categories and Labels programme, will help the institute upgrade its present curriculum to meet the world standard demands in the hotel management and hospitality sector.

PUM Netherlands offers skills and expertise to around 2,000 small and medium enterprises or training institutes annually on a voluntary basis.

Michiel Reynders, second secretary for economic affairs and private sector development at Netherlands Embassy in Dhaka, Rubina H Farouq, director of the institute, Abdul Karim, managing director of MIDAS, Francis Dilip de Silva, adviser (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) to International Labour Organisation, and Mashiur Rahman, PUM representative in Bangladesh and general manager of MIDAS, were also present.

Approved by the civil aviation and tourism ministry and affiliated with Bangladesh Technical Education Board and City & Guilds, UK, IHMH has trained over 1,800 students since 2004.

Seoul to hire 4,500 skilled workers a year

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=136400

Seoul to hire 4,500 skilled workers a year
Unb, Dhaka

South Korean Ambassador in Dhaka Taiyoung Cho yesterday said his country would recruit 4,500 skilled Bangladeshi workers each year under a quota system.

He said different sectors of South Korea now need a large number of skilled and unskilled workers.

Cho showed eagerness to recruit the Bangladeshi workers when he called on Labour and Employment Minister Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain at the latter’s Secretariat office.

During the meeting, they discussed different bilateral issues, especially manpower export to South Korea.

The South Korean ambassador assured the minister of appointing more Bangladeshi workers in his country in future.

Praising the Bangladeshi workers employed in South Korea, he said they are industrious, sincere and law-abiding.