Dhaka: Bangladesh can now send male workers to Saudi Arabia as the Gulf state has lifted its ‘informal restriction’ on Bangladesh, said Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Secretary Khandker Mohammad Iftekhar Haider on Monday.

The Expatriates Secretary made the disclosure while responding to a question at a press conference at the Foreign Ministry, reports UNB.

Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque and senior officials of the ministry were present at the joint press conference arranged to brief the media highlighting various features of the 9th meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) to be held here in December next.

The 8th GFMD meeting was held in Istanbul, Turkey in October 2015.

Iftekhar Haider mentioned that an agreement was signed in 2015 on sending domestic service workers but Bangladesh could not send male workers as expected.

He admitted there is a slow pace in sending male workers due to the ‘informal restriction’, and hoped the flow of sending workers will increase during the days to come.

Iftekhar also said they got assurance over the safety of female workers in Saudi Arabia. Bangladesh sent 20,000 female workers under the agreement signed last year.