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[QUOTE="Munyaradzi Mafaro, post: 81972, member: 636"]
Bangladesh risks screwing local workers to woo foreign gas giants into offshore drilling deals. A high-level committee reviewing the Production Sharing Contract 2025 quietly considers whether international operators should skip paying into the Workers’ Profit Participation Fund. Official sources allege this exemption would cut laborers out of legally mandated profit sharing just to attract external investors. The Energy and Mineral Resources Division and Petrobangla confirmed that a panel under Mohammad Mohsin currently reviews these draft contracts.

Current regulations demand profitable businesses dump five percent of net earnings into the WPFF. Eighty percent of that cash goes directly to employees while the government collects a chunk as tax. Labor groups like the Bangladesh Trade Union Confederation argue that granting special passes violates the Bangladesh Workers’ Welfare Foundation Act. General Secretary Babul Akhter warned that letting multinationals dodge statutory rights sets a nasty precedent for everyone else.

Committee member Prof Dr M Tamim noted the issue remains under review without a final decision. Energy expert Dr Ijaz Hossain pointed out that foreign firms already get massive perks like full cost recovery and tax-free imports. Analysts claim the real problem involves risky geology and a lack of seismic data rather than post-profit labor costs. Diluting rights merely invites scrutiny from international bodies like the ILO.
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