The government is looking for new labour market destinations to increase remittance earnings and help the manpower sector recover from the losses it incurred during the pandemic.

"A record 1.1 million Bangladeshi workers have gone abroad this year. Over 90 percent of their destinations were Middle Eastern countries. Now, our workers will be able to go to some new destinations apart from Italy, Romania and Greece," Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad said on Monday.

"We have been negotiating with a number of countries to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with them. Our workers are going to several new destinations, and we are offering them full support," Imran Ahmad added.

He said Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, and Gambia are interested in recruiting Bangladeshi workers, and Bangladeshi ambassadors in these countries are working on it.

The Italian Ambassador to Bangladesh Enrico Nunziata said his country has already started taking Bangladeshi workers in different sectors, including agriculture, tourism, and hospitality management.

"We have opened the process for Bangladesh and are now discussing how to reach an agreement so that workers from here can go to Italy in different sectors. We are looking for skilled workers in a number of fields, from agriculture to tourism," the Italian envoy said. 

Nunziata also announced giving Bangladesh three million euros to ensure safe migration and rehabilitate returnee workers.