The government has planned to form a separate directorate and a service centre in "near future" aimed at exporting manpower and preventing harassment of expatriate workers, Expatriate Welfare and Oversees Employment Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain told the parliament yesterday.

Replying to lawmakers' queries, he also informed the House that fresh manpower export to Malaysia is expected to resume within two months.

He also said the government has identified 22 new countries, including Italy, Azerbaijan, Sudan, Congo, Estonia, Tanzania, Angola and Algeria, as new labour markets for Bangladeshi workers.

About setting up new directorate and a service centre on overseas employment, Mosharraf said the government could not utilise experiences of officials who worked for a certain period of time in labour wings in different diplomatic missions abroad as those officials join other government offices.

Replying to another query, the minister informed that a total of 17.54 lakh Bangladeshi workers have got jobs in different countries in the last three years and five months.

On the Bangladeshi workers' Akama [work permit) change related problems in Saudi Arabia, the minister said a technical delegation from the country will visit Bangladesh and the issue will be discussed at that time.

On finding out new labour markets apart from conventional destinations, he said two facts finding committees have already visited different countries in Africa and Latin America to find out new labour markets there.

"Besides, five high-powered government delegations are visiting now for searching of new labour markets," he added.