Muktadesh Desk: A delegation of Japan’s ‘National Business Support Combined Cooperatives’ (NBCC) met with Chief Advisor Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus to inform him of the progress in recruiting 100,000 skilled workers from Bangladesh.
A 23-member delegation met with the Chief Advisor at the State Guest House Jamuna on Sunday (October 26) afternoon. Expatriate Welfare and Employment Advisor Dr. Asif Nazrul and Chief Advisor’s Principal Coordinator for SDGs Lamia Morshed were present.
‘National Business Support Combined Cooperatives’ is a Japanese business federation of more than 65 companies that recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate the recruitment of skilled Bangladeshi workers. The agreement aims to establish a framework for training, certification and employment of Bangladeshis in Japan, through which more than 100,000 workers will be recruited under programs such as Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) and Specified Skilled Workers (SSWO) in the next five years.
The delegation members said that under the signed MoU, the first phase of recruiting 2,000 skilled workers is in process next year. Later, 6,000 workers are scheduled to be recruited in 2027 and 18,000 workers in 2028.
Of these, they said that the construction sector, service sector, aviation sector, garments and agriculture require the most workers. In addition, they also said that the demand for skilled workers will increase in the coming days in the driver, automobile and recycling sectors.
With the aim of recruiting workers from Bangladesh, training of potential workers is being provided at two training centers in Khulna and Kapasia in Gazipur. Members of the NBCC delegation have already visited the two centers.
At this time, the Chief Advisor wanted to know if there was any deficiency in the training of the workers.
The head of the delegation, National Business Support Cooperative Federation (NBCC) Chairman Mikio Kesagayama, said, “I visited the two training centers last March. I was surprised to come here this time. A lot of progress has been made in seven months. We are very satisfied with the training. We are hopeful that we will be able to recruit 2,000 skilled workers next year.”
However, he said that it could be better if the language skills of the trainers could be improved.
Stating that “acquiring language skills is a big challenge,” the Chief Advisor said, “For this, virtual classes can be taken. Teachers from Japan will take classes online. In addition, whether trainers from Japan can be brought here and trained can also be considered.”
At this time, the Chief Advisor also mentioned the expertise and hard work of Bangladeshi women. He said, Bangladeshi women are unique in the caregiving sector. They are very caring. If Bangladeshi girls receive language skills and other training, they will play a unique role in Japan’s caregiving sector.
The chief advisor also said, “Although it may seem a bit difficult initially, once Bangladeshi girls are taught, they will be able to teach others. Once they start going, others will also get inspired.”
NBCC representatives said that Japan will need more than 400,000 skilled nurses in the next few years. They will consider recruiting more nurses from Bangladesh.
Advisor Asif Nazrul said in the meeting that the government is regularly reviewing the progress in recruiting workers in Japan. He said that the government will prepare a specific roadmap in this regard. He also said that a specific cell has been formed by the ministry to resolve problems related to recruiting workers in Japan.
