DHAKA: The United Arab Emirates will recruit more workers from Bangladesh, the UAE labour minister said on Monday.

“We are open to have more workers, including the skilled manpower and workers from the private sector,” Ali Bin Abdullah Al-Kaabi told reporters after signing a jobs agreement with Bangladesh foreign affairs adviser, Iftekher Ahmed Chowdhury.

Around 700,000 Bangladeshis are working in the Gulf state, particularly in the construction sector, Bangladesh foreign ministry officials said. About 130,000 Bangladeshis went to the UAE in 2006 alone, they said.

Bangladesh has sent a total of 228,000 workers abroad, mostly to Malaysia during the period from January to May 20 of this year, nearly double the number during the same period of the previous year. Expatriate workers, who sent home $4.81 billion in year to June 2006, are a major source of foreign exchange for Bangladesh, officials said.—Reuters