BRUSSELS: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday warned of the tight timing for securing a trade deal with Britain, hours after Boris Johnson’s Conservatives won a crushing election victory.
“The time frame ahead of us is very challenging,” von der Leyen said, following a discussion by EU leaders on the way forward after Brexit, now expected on January 31.
On the “first of February, we go to work,” she said.
EU Council President Charles Michel warned that the 27 member states would not accept a deal blindly, stressing that the bloc would insist that Britain respect European norms to win the deal.
“There is no question of concluding a deal at any price, said Michel, who coordinates EU summits, after the talks.
“Negotiations are over when the results are balanced and guarantee respect for the different concerns,” the former Belgian premier said.
“We have a way of doing things based on experience, transparency and maintaining unity” in the EU, he added.
EU is worried about the breakneck speed with which Johnson would like to strike a trade deal with Europe and any British effort to undermine the unity among the remaining 27 members.
In a text released after the talks, the 27 EU leaders called for “as close as possible a future relationship with the UK” while warning that it “will have to be based on a balance of rights and obligations and ensure a level playing field.”
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier will direct trade negotiations, which the leaders will follow closely “and provide further guidance as necessary, fully consistent with the EU’s best interest,” conclusions added.
Johnson has until July 1 to ask for a trade talks extension.
If he refuses to extend the negotiation period, a no-deal Brexit will loom at the end of 2020, with Britain in danger of an abrupt cut in trade ties with Europe, endangering its economy.
EU warns of ‘challenging’ timeframe for UK trade deal
https://arab.news/965dt
EU warns of ‘challenging’ timeframe for UK trade deal
- EU is concerned about the rapid speed with which Johnson would like to strike a trade deal with Europe
- Johnson has until July 1 to request for a trade talks extension
Bangladesh sends record 750,000 workers to Saudi Arabia in 2025
- Latest data shows 16% surge of Bangladeshis going to the Kingdom compared to 2024
- Bangladesh authorities are working on sending more skilled workers to Saudi Arabia
DHAKA: Bangladesh sent over 750,000 workers to Saudi Arabia in 2025, marking the highest overseas deployment to a single country on record, its labor bureau said on Friday.
Around 3.5 million Bangladeshis live and work in Saudi Arabia, sending home more than $5 billion every year. They have been joining the Saudi labor market since the 1970s and are the largest expatriate group in the Kingdom.
Last year, Saudi Arabia retained its spot as the top destination for Bangladeshi workers, with more than two-thirds of over 1.1 million who went abroad in 2025 choosing the Kingdom.
“More than 750,000 Bangladeshi migrants went to Saudi Arabia last year,” Ashraf Hossain, additional director-general at the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training, told Arab News.
“So far, it’s the highest number for Bangladesh, in terms of sending migrants to Saudi Arabia or any other particular country in a single year.”
The latest data also showed a 16 percent increase from 2024, when about 628,000 went to the Kingdom for work, adding to the largest diaspora community outside Bangladesh.
Authorities have focused on sending more skilled workers to Saudi Arabia in recent years, after the Kingdom launched in 2023 its Skill Verification Program in Bangladesh, which aims to advance the professional competence of employees in the Saudi labor market.
Bangladesh has also increased the number of certification centers, allowing more candidates to be verified by Saudi authorities.
“Our focus is now on increasing safe, skilled and regular migration. Skilled manpower export to Saudi Arabia has increased in the last year … more than one-third of the migrants who went to Saudi Arabia did so under the Skill Verification Program by the Saudi agency Takamol,” Hossain said.
“Just three to four months ago, we had only been to certify 1,000 skilled workers per month. But now, we can conduct tests with 28 (Saudi-approved) centers across the country, which can certify around 60,000 skilled workforces (monthly) for the Kingdom’s labor market.”
On Thursday, the BMET began to provide training in mining, as Bangladesh aims to also start sending skilled workers for the sector in Saudi Arabia.
“There are huge demands for skilled mining workers in Saudi Arabia as it’s an oil-rich country,” Hossain said.
“We are … trying to produce truly skilled workers for the Saudi labor market.”
In October, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh signed a new employment agreement, which enhances worker protection, wage payments, as well as welfare and health services.
It also opens more opportunities in construction and major Vision 2030 projects, which may create up to 300,000 new jobs for Bangladeshi workers in 2026.
