Bangladesh has announced the start of the recruitment process for workers going to Malaysia after Malaysian authorities agreed to list 338 Bangladeshi agencies, the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment said in a press release on Thursday.

The listed agencies are the state-run Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL), 25 private processing or service agencies, and 312 recruiting agencies, the release said. It said Malaysia made the selection on its own eligibility criteria.

Listed recruiting agencies can find employers, collect job orders, select workers in Bangladesh, and carry out recruitment under the rules, according to the ministry.

The ministry said Malaysia has also agreed in principle, at the Bangladesh government’s special request, to take 10,000 workers at zero cost. The release did not say when they would leave or how they would be selected.

The ministry set out the process in four steps. Agencies collect job orders from the Malaysian market and select workers under Bangladeshi law. BOESL and the 25 processing agencies then assist with Malaysian administrative work, such as calling visas and e-visas. Each approved agency can then clear its own workers through the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) under its own recruitment license.

BOESL and the 25 agencies can issue no-objection certificates for the clearance.

On medical checks, the ministry said final approval of testing centres is a joint responsibility of the two countries under the existing agreement. A joint team from Malaysia’s health, human resources and home ministries will visit Bangladesh to inspect each centre before giving final approval.

Meanwhile, Malaysia has decided to start operations through the remaining centres listed on its website. At Bangladesh’s request, it dropped centres the ministry described as controversial. The ministry said no single centre will have exclusive authority to conduct the tests. New centres will be added later, and the list will be published.

The release said the 2022 agreement, signed on December 18, lets Malaysia’s Human Resources Ministry select and list Bangladeshi agencies on its criteria. Verification began under the interim government. Malaysia eased some conditions, and a list of 423 agencies was sent to Malaysian authorities before the present government took office.

The ministry said it wants workers to go through an affordable, safe and transparent process and not to carry extra financial burdens. It urged agencies to follow the law and protect workers’ interests.