Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University Debating Society held a seminar on actions to increase remittance at the SAU seminar room in Dhaka on Saturday.
Executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, Fahmida Khatun, attended as chief guest while chairman of Debate for Democracy, Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron, presented the keynote at the seminar, which was preside over by SAU pro-vice-chancellor Professor Md Belal Hossain, said a press release.
Fahmida Khatun said, 鈥楾o increase remittance, we need to ensure that we send skilled workers in language and work.鈥�
Compared to other countries, we send unskilled and less skilled workers. Yet, we received $27 billion in remittances in the past year, she added, mentioning that emphasis should be placed on sending more skilled workers abroad.
Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury said that the remittance the expatriates send is working especially as the driving force of the economy of Bangladesh.
Mentioning that expatriates have a strong sense of patriotism, he added, 鈥楾hey have supported the recent student-led mass uprising and ensured the fall of the fascist government by stopping the remittances.鈥�
He also said that the interim government had honoured expatriates by providing lounges for them at the airport, providing facilities for subsidised food, removing the upper limit on remittances, starting to issue MRP passports, opening hospitals for expatriates and their families, and taking initiatives to keep migration costs under control.
If expatriates are honoured, their social status is increased, and their ownership of the country is recognised by the social welfare system. As a result, they will be more motivated to send remittances through legal channels, he noted.
The seminar was organised to hand over the awards of the International Migrants Day Debate Competition. The discussants of the seminar included moderator of SAU Debating Society, Professor Md Tajul Islam Chowdhury Tuhin, Professor Md Jahangir Alam and Professor Kazi Ahsan Habib, and principal of Begum Badrunnesa Women鈥檚 College Professor Tamanna Begum.
The champion of the competition became Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University and the runner-up from Begum Badrunnesa Government Women鈥檚 College.
