Staff Reporter:
Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury yesterday called upon the Swiss Ambassador to further intensify the cooperation and support between the two countries for developing more skilled manpower.
“Bangladesh’s greatest strength lies in its young and productive population. Skilled Bangladeshi workers could make significant contributions to specialized sectors in Switzerland, including healthcare, care giv-ing, information technology, engineering, hospitality and construction,” he said.
The minister made this call during a meeting with Swiss Ambassador to Bangladesh Reto Renggli at his office in the ministry.
Stressing the need to expand bilateral cooperation between the two countries, he said Bangladesh is ex-panding technical and vocational training to produce a skilled workforce in line with the demands of global industries.
“Switzerland has long been extending support to Bangladesh in overall development, skills enhancement and strengthening safe migration management,” he said.
The minister also thanked Switzerland for its technical assistance in developing the Overseas Employ-ment Platform (OEP) and said, “The platform has made Bangladesh’s migration management more mod-ern, transparent and effective.”
The minister sought further technical and operational support from Switzerland to strengthen the OEP through improved labor demand management, integration of medical centres, development of the job portal and the introduction of a dedicated mobile application.
The minister also sought the ambassador’s support in expanding scholarship opportunities in Switzerland for Bangladeshi students and researchers.
The Swiss ambassador reaffirmed the strong relations and close cooperation between Bangladesh and Switzerland over the past 15 years. “Switzerland will work to develop the skills of the Bangladeshi workforce,” he said.
He emphasized the importance of ensuring the economic and social reintegration of Bangladeshi migrant workers returning home from abroad.
Labour and Employment Secretary Md Abdur Rahman Tarafdar, Switzerland’s Regional Adviser for Migration and Protection Lisa-Tanita Greminger, Regional Program Manager Nazia Haider and senior officials of the ministry were present at the meeting.
