Saudi Arabia set to recruit more medical workers from Bangladesh: Riyadh ambassador

Saudi Arabia will recruit more Bangladeshi medical staff as part of an agreement signed with Bangladesh in 2022, Riyadh's Ambassador in Dhaka Essa Al-Duhailan said recently.

During an interview with Arab News, the Saudi diplomat said, "For a long time, Saudi Arabia didn't recruit any medical staff from Bangladesh. But now we started recruiting them, because they already reach our criteria."

The Saudi Kingdom has asked us to send over 150 trained nurses, said Additional Secretary for Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Khairul Alam.

He said the ministry is now scrutinizing the demands, like where the Bangladeshi nurses will be employed, whether they will be employed by government-run hospitals or private health facilities, etc, reports Arab News.

According to Bangladesh Medical Association data, there are only a few dozen clinicians among nearly 3 million Bangladeshi expatriate workers residing in the Kingdom.

Under the 2022 agreement on the recruitment of medics, the first Bangladeshi health workers departed for the Kingdom in November 2023.

The Saudi ambassador said while the initial group consisted of some 60 clinicians, it was just the beginning.

"This number, insha'Allah, will jump in the near future ... It's just to tickle the market and to see how it's going."

"A team from the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia already visited Bangladesh twice last year. And they will continue to visit Bangladesh to recruit more."

The next group expected to depart for Saudi Arabia will consist of nurses.

Khairul Alam said since the development is new, the government is now preparing mechanisms to streamline the recruitment of medics.

He said, "We welcome this latest move from Saudi Arabia to appoint Bangladeshi health sector workers in the Kingdom, a country that is a key destination for our migrants. There are scopes to increase this opportunity further.

"A detailed recruitment policy will be prepared for this."

Bangladesh's more than 100 medical colleges produce large numbers of certified doctors, nurses and medics.

Working in the Kingdom with top-quality equipment also offers them learning opportunities.

"The more medical staffers we can send and the more we can upgrade them in terms of quality, the more it will create a win-win situation for both countries," said Shariful Hasan, associate director of the migration program of BRAC, the largest development organization based in Bangladesh.

"Secondly, it will be helpful for our migrants ... Our doctors, nurses, and medical staffers can also offer treatment to our migrants in the Kingdom."

Currently, only 2% of Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom are skilled professionals.

"As a result, we are exporting the highest number of migrants but receiving a lesser amount of remittance in comparison with the number of migrants. In this context, if we can send more skilled workforces, it will increase our remittance," Hasan said.

"It will enhance our image as a source country of skilled workforce."