DHAKA: The Centre for Policy Dialogue has recommended the Bangladesh government to form a committee to investigate the large remittance outflows to India here the other day.
Bangladesh is now the fifth largest remittance source for India, with around $3.7 billion sent in 2013.
The number is expected to only increase in the coming years, according to Silicon India, a portal for professionals.
“This is a warning signal,” Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of CPD, said, adding that both the Board of Investment and Bangladesh Bank may want to investigate how such huge sums are flowing out of the country and into India.
The government should initiate necessary steps to curb reverse remittance flow, deal with the issue of illegal migrants and develop skilled human resources for substitution, the local think-tank said in its report on the economy’s performance so far in fiscal 2014-15.
At present, there are hundreds of thousands of Indian nationals working in the country, as per Silicon India.
Most of them work in ready made garment and textile industries and non-governmental organizations, often without proper permissions and documentations.
Atiqul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, tipped the remittance by the industry’s Indian and Sri Lankan experts and technicians to cross the $4 billion-mark soon.
The total number of foreign technicians in the garment sector now stands at upwards of 19,000, the majority of whom are Indian, he said.
“Our universities should introduce different technical subjects for producing skilled manpower for the garment and textile sectors,” Islam added.
