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First phase of 'Probashi Card' project to start next month
The government will launch a pilot project of the ‘Probashi Card’ (Expatriate Card) by the middle of next month to provide special services and benefits to Bangladeshi expatriates, officials said on Saturday.
The decision was taken at a meeting on the Probashi Card chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman at the Prime Minister’s Office, said Deputy Press Secretary to the Prime Minister Shahadat Swadhin.
He said the card aims to ensure greater social recognition, empowerment and financial benefits for expatriates. The card will also provide international payment and banking facilities through a dual-currency system.
As part of the government’s election commitments, initiatives such as the Family Card, Farmer Card and Sports Card have already been started, and the Probashi Card is also being introduced under the same pledge, he added.
According to the Deputy Press Secretary, expatriates holding the card will receive various facilities, including complimentary airport lounge access, dedicated immigration services, meet-and-greet services at international airports, discounts on air tickets and hotel bookings, airport pick-and-drop services, and vehicle booking facilities at preferential rates.
Cardholders will also receive priority services at government hospitals, discounts at private hospitals, free transportation of deceased expatriates’ bodies, rehabilitation opportunities for returnee migrants, insurance benefits, and priority access to services related to land registration, mutation, utilities, licences and foreign investment.
The card will also offer remittance reward points, credit scoring and loan facilities, direct money transfer options, easier transactions, and priority services for NID, passport and consular matters, along with other banking and government services.
Swadhin said Janata Bank will initially issue the expatriate debit cards during the pilot phase. The government has set a target of distributing 50,000 Probashi Cards by December this year and 200,000 by June next year.
In the second phase, all activities related to the Probashi Card will be carried out through the Probashi Kallyan Bank.
The Prime Minister also instructed officials to modernise the National Skills Development Authority and ensure that Bangladeshi expatriates living across the world are brought under the coverage of the Probashi Card programme.
The meeting was attended by Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury, State Minister Nurul Haque Nur, Prime Minister’s advisers Rehan Asif Asad and Mahdi Amin, Secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Mokhtar Ahmed, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant Shakirul Islam Khan, BMET Director General Jamil Ahmed, and senior officials.
-HIS
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Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Advertisement: 41053012; 01793317829, 01550707291, E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Online: email: [email protected] 41053014; 01550707297 Advertisement: 01550707296
