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DHAKA, March 04, 2026 (BSS) - Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury today said the government has made weekly reporting on overseas employment activities mandatory, as part of efforts to strengthen monitoring and expand access to foreign labour markets.

"From now on, updated reports on overseas labour market expansion must be presented every week. No laxity will be tolerated in this regard," he told the first meeting of the committee formed to increase overseas employment and ensure expatriate welfare, at the conference room of the ministry in the capital today.

The minister said Japan is a promising labour market for Bangladesh due to its demand for foreign workers, safe working environment, guarantee of full labour rights and comparatively high wages in overseas employment.

The meeting was informed that Japan recruits workers from Bangladesh and other countries mainly under four visa categories. According to a report published in The Japan Times on December 23, 2025, among the four categories, Japan plans to recruit more than 1.2 million foreign workers by March 2029 under only the ESD and Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) categories.

It was also noted that according to the latest national census of Bangladesh, after meeting domestic labour demand, the country currently has around 25 million surplus working-age population. If properly trained and skilled, a significant portion of them could secure employment opportunities in Japan, resulting in substantial foreign currency earnings.

The current government's election manifesto has set a target of creating overseas employment for 10 million Bangladeshis over the next five years. As part of a country-specific action plan to achieve this goal, the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment is formulating a strategy to increase employment opportunities for Bangladeshi workers in Japan. The meeting held today was the first session of the committee in this regard.

The meeting discussed recruiting Japanese language teachers and trainers, preparing skilled manpower based on demand, increasing the number of students going to Japan under language student visas, and conducting skill tests in six out of the 16 fields under the Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) category in Bangladesh. 

Initiatives to launch skill tests in the remaining 10 fields were also discussed.

Other issues discussed included taking steps to establish a Japan Foundation office in Dhaka, ensuring proper preparation under the SSW and ESD systems to increase worker demand from Japanese companies, increasing the number of Japanese language instructors at training centres in Bangladesh, and directing the Bangladesh Embassy in Japan to send labour market search reports. 

Expanding the number of seats and test centres for Japanese language examinations was also deliberated.

The meeting further discussed gradually introducing Japanese language courses at all Technical Training Centres (TTCs) and recruiting the required number of local Japanese language instructors. In addition to direct recruitment, appointing Japanese trainers through a virtual teaching platform was also considered.

Among others, Prime Minister's Adviser on Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment and Labour and Employment Mahdi Amin, State Minister for Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Md. Nurul Haque, Senior Secretary of the ministry Dr. Neyamat Ullah Bhuiyan, Executive Chairman of the National Skills Development Authority Dr. Najnin Kawsar Chowdhury, and Full Faculty Member of Oita University, Japan, Dr. Md. Shakirul Islam Khan, along with senior officials of the ministry, were present at the meeting.