Dhaka: Minister of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Nurul Islam on Sunday said that Qatar assured him of recruiting over 300,000 skilled Bangladeshi workers in the next two years.

Talking to reporters on Sunday after his recent visit in Doha, he said that a consensus had been reached with the Qatari government during a bilateral meeting on 3 February, and the assurance is seen as a boost for the country’s economy, which is heavily dependent on remittances sent by Bangladeshi workers employed abroad, says a UNB report.

Qatar was represented by their minister of administrative development, labour and social affairs, Issa Saad Al-Fafali Al-Nuaimi.

The minister also added that a bilateral joint committee meeting will be held in Dhaka for the final agreement.

The meeting would also revise the cost of sending workers.

He said that due to the upcoming 2022 World Cup, Qatar has great demand of skilled workers and Bangladesh can meet it.

Some of the positions in demand include salesmen, nurses, doctors, engineers and office executives.

During his meeting at Doha, he urged minister Issa to come to Dhaka and formally meet with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The minister also paid a courtesy call to the Qatari Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani on 4 February to formally convey Hasina’s invitation to Dhaka in March.

During the visit, he also requested his Qatari counterpart to increase the monthly minimum wage of Bangladeshi workers from 700 riyal to 1200 riyal, which he believes would increase to at least 1000 riyal.

Qatari labour minister Issa Al-Nauimi has said that Bangladesh remains a top priority country for them, from whom they can recruit skilled manpower.

In 2015, a total of 5.55 lakh workers were recruited from Bangladesh, out of which 1.23 lakh went to Qatar, a 42 percent rise from 2014.

Similarly, there was a 33 percent rise of female workers in Qatar, as 8642 workers were sent in 2015, compared to 6452 in 2014.

In last fiscal year, Bangladesh received more than $15 billion as remittances from its workers employed across the world.