KUWAIT CITY, June 19: Today, 19th June 2022, the first batch of 50 nurses from Bangladesh arrived in Kuwait to perform their duties in different government hospitals of Kuwait under the Ministry of Health of Kuwait. H.E. Major-General Md Ashikuzzaman, ndc,afwc,psc,G, Ambassador of Bangladesh to Kuwait, along with officers of the Embassy and officers from the respective companies welcomed the newly-appointed nurses at Kuwait International Airport with flowers and congratulated them on being selected as the first batch to serve in Kuwait.

H.E. Major General Md Ashikuzzaman, ndc,afwc,psc,G, Ambassador of Bangladesh to Kuwait said in his statement that, “Today is an important day in the history of Bangladesh’s manpower market in Kuwait. Since my joining as Ambassador of Bangladesh in Kuwait, the Embassy has been in regular contact with high-ranking officials of local Ministries of Kuwait and leading companies involved in bringing manpower from Kuwait to increase Bangladesh’s labor market and bring skilled manpower from Bangladesh.”

As a result, after approval of the Ministry of Health of the State of Kuwait the City Group General Trading Company and the Advanced Technology Company of Kuwait submitted demand letters to the Embassy on December 2021 for recruitment of 998 nurses through Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL), which was sent to the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment of Bangladesh for further approval after verification by the Embassy of Bangladesh in Kuwait.

Accordingly, in January 2022, a selection committee comprising of the Ministry of Health, Kuwait and representatives from respective company visited Bangladesh to recruit nurses for both of the companies and finalized a total number of 654 nurses. A delegation from the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL) visited Kuwait on 06-12 May 2022 to monitor all the facilities including accommodation of nurses from Bangladesh and looked for new labor market.

The Bangladesh Ambassador also mentioned that visas have already been issued in favor of 299 nurses out of the finally selected nurses. Among them, 50 nurses of the first batch have arrived in Kuwait for the first time officially free of cost. The remaining nurses with visas are expected to join the work by June 2022 and the remaining selected nurses are expected to join to their workplaces in Kuwait soon upon completion of the process of departure from Bangladesh.

In his speech H.E. Ambassador said that Kuwait is one of the important countries in the Middle East region. There is an immense potential for the export of skilled manpower. The Embassy of Bangladesh in Kuwait aims to increase the export of skilled manpower from Bangladesh to Kuwait. H.E. Ambassador hoped that the beginning of export of Bangladeshi skilled manpower to Kuwait through nurses would gradually pave the way for skilled manpower in various sectors in Kuwait, which in turn would further strengthen Bangladesh-Kuwait bilateral relations.

The Ambassador of Bangladesh also thanked the relevant Ministries of Kuwait and the Embassy of Kuwait in Bangladesh and related companies for recruiting Bangladeshi skilled manpower to Kuwait. The Ambassador also thanked the Ministry of Health of Bangladesh, Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL) for their assistance in expediting the recruitment process of nurses in Kuwait.