Bangladeshi labor set to expand the migrant workforce

Bangladesh preparing to export laborers to Taiwan to work, sources from the Council of Labor Affairs said yesterday.

The Department of Health has given its consent to a list of hospitals recommended by Bangladesh's public health and labor affairs agencies to allow potential workers to have health examinations before arrival, council officials said.

As soon as Bangladesh opens its liaison office in Taiwan, the council will give the green-light to admit Bangladeshi laborers, the council officials said.

Taiwan a representative office in Bangladesh, while the Bangladeshi government is planning to open one in Taiwan, although no definite timetable has been set.

Council Chen Chu (陳菊) visited Bangladesh in August. Chen and her entourage met with senior Bangladeshi officials to discuss the procedures for importing Bangladeshi workers and a feasible labor cooperation formula, including designing vocational training programs and cultivating their instructors.

Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Mongolia export laborers to Taiwan. Mongolia sent its first workers in May.

Indonesia, because it failed to work in tune with the CLA's request to cut exorbitant brokerage fees charged by Indonesian employment agencies, has not been allowed to export laborers to Taiwan since Aug. 1, 2002.