DHAKA, Bangladesh – Workers hoping to land jobs in Malaysia will begin registering for consideration at the end of this month, and can expect to begin work in February, local media reported Monday (December 3rd).

The opportunity for work abroad follows the signing last week of a Memorandum of Understanding between Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur.

Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment (EWOE) Minister Khandaker Musharraf Hossain said at a press conference Sunday that registration for Malaysia jobs will begin at the end of December. It will be conducted via the website of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), according to The Financial Express.

"Upon completion of selection procedures, we will make a clean database of the selected job seekers, for handing over to the human resources ministry of Malaysia to choose candidates from the list," Bernama quoted him as saying.

Initially, Malaysia will hire labourers for its tree planting sector. To meet immediate demands, it needs nearly 30,000 workers.

The website bdnews24.com reported that all this hinges on Malaysia sending the demand letter for manpower import later this month.

"Each of the workers will have to spend maximum Tk 40,000 to go to Malaysia and they will earn minimum Tk 25,000 per month," The Daily Star quoted Hossain as saying.