DUSHANBE, May 21, 2009, Asia-Plus – Decks have been cleared for the recruitment of hundreds of Tajik workers who lost their jobs in Russia and elsewhere due to the global economic crisis. The first group of 2,000 workers will possibly be deployed in Saudi Arabia in a staggered schedule later this year, Arab News reported today.
The plan has been given the green light following the visit of Tajikistan’s Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi, who also secured Saudi support to host a meeting of Islamic foreign ministers in Tajikistan next year.
After meeting with Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif and Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal Tuesday night, Zarifi said the talks covered the whole range of bilateral, regional and international issues of common concern.
The Kingdom and Tajikistan have decided to forge closer cooperation in the field of manpower recruitment.
Tajikistan has one of the highest remittance rates in the world, according to a recent World Bank report, but virtually all of it has come from workers in Russia.
The report said between September and November last year, remittances from Tajik migrants working in Russia dropped by more than 50 percent. That decrease alone accounts for a 20 percent drop in the country’s GDP. Nearly one million Tajik men work abroad at the moment, said the report.
