Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud on Wednesday said they are extremely optimistic about the future of Bangladesh and the two countries will work together to expand their cooperation.
"I think there is a lot to be done," he told reporters after his meeting with Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen at a Dhaka hotel, noting that the two countries have a clear target to work together to that end.
Responding to a question, the Saudi foreign minister said they are committed to a "stable" oil market and all indications say there is no concern regarding the oil supply.
He said that they are "very optimistic" about the future of this relationship with Bangladesh. "We just had an excellent political consultation."
Most importantly, he said they explored how they can expand the partnership as the two countries enjoy a historic strong relationship.
"We're committed to building up on this strong foundation to a much broader partnership. Saudi companies are very interested to invest here," he said.
Foreign Minister Momen said they are very proud to see this high-level political consultation for the first time.
He said some 20 Saudi companies have shown interest to invest in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has assured of providing required facilities in the economic zones, he said.
Momen said they also discussed food security issues noting that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has put a lot of emphasis on this.
He said the Saudi side assured of hassle-free clearance of visas for 100% hajj applicants.
The Saudi foreign minister arrived in Dhaka on a brief official visit on Tuesday evening.
He met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Gonobhaban on Wednesday morning.
The Saudi FM left Dhaka on Wednesday afternoon wrapping up his less than 24-hour visit.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud on Wednesday said they are extremely optimistic about the future of Bangladesh and the two countries will work together to expand their cooperation. "I think there is a lot to be done," he told reporters after his meeting with Foreign...
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Visiting Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al Saud on Wednesday said many Saudi companies are keen to make investments in the energy sector of Bangladesh, particularly in renewable energy.
He said this during a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence Ganobhaban here.
The premier's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the meeting.
The prime minister told the Saudi FM that her government is establishing 100 special economic zones across the country.
She hoped that the Saudi investors would avail the opportunities prevailing in Bangladesh.
"I welcome Saudi Arabia's investment in Bangladesh," she was quoted as saying.
Sheikh Hasina expressed her satisfaction over the bilateral relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
"The bilateral cooperation has extended and consolidated in many areas that include economy, trade, commerce, investment, energy, education, culture and defence," she said.
The prime minister said Saudi Arabia has a special place in the hearts of the people of Bangladesh.
She conveyed her greetings to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.
Hasina also appreciated the custodian of the two holy mosques, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, for his contribution to the Muslim Ummah.
The visiting minister described the bilateral relation between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia as a 'strong bond of friendship' and said, "This will grow from strength to strength in the days to come."
He said their priority is to enhance further economic cooperation by exploring new areas.
Prince Faisal hoped that Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia would work together on various global agendas.
He said many Bangladeshi workers are contributing to the global economy.
He commended the visionary leadership of Hasina and the commendable economic development of Bangladesh.
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, prime minister's Ambassador-at-Large Mohammad Ziauddin, her Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus, Bangladesh Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Dr Mohammad Javed Patwary and Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Essa Yussef Essa Al Dulaihan were present at the meeting.
Visiting Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al Saud on Wednesday said many Saudi companies are keen to make investments in the energy sector of Bangladesh, particularly in renewable energy. He said this during a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence...
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Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, ambassador of Bangladesh to Germany visited Kosovo during 13-16 March.
During the visit, he met Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz, second deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and diaspora of Kosovo at her office, reads a press release.
The ambassador underlined that there are untapped areas of mutual cooperation where economic and public diplomacy could act as catalysts in taking the bilateral relations to a new height.
He emphasised on holding the first Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) at the ministerial level.
He also stressed on extension of consular activities at the Embassy of Kosovo in Dhaka to promote people-to-people ties, visits of businessmen of both sides, exchange of academics/researchers, joint research and cooperation in areas of mutual concerns between the think-tanks and the academia.
Mosharraf underscored on transforming the relations in bilateral and multi-lateral arena in the level of a strategic partnership.
The ambassador expressed his optimism that the existing relations between the countries will be further expanded in depths and dimensions, referring to the letter of invitation of addressed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to her Kosovo counterpart, and stressed on the high-level visits from Kosovo at this year of celebration of Golden Jubilee of Independence.
The Kosovan Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora thanked the government of Bangladesh for its continuous support in various multilateral fora, and requested to explore the possibilities of joint venture investments in Kosovo, and agreed on the importance of high-level visits to renew the bilateral relations, the release added.
The ambassador also met Dr Artane Rizvanolli, minister of economy, and Rozeta Hajdari, minister of industry, entrepreneurship and trade.
There were discussions for reviewing the potentials of deepening initiatives for economic cooperation which includes promotion of joint investments and trade links.
The potentials for further diversification of cooperation and exploration of possibilities of joint ventures in the sectors such as home-textiles, high-end RMG products, processed agro-products, frozen food, joint agricultural farming, pharmaceuticals, ICT & IOT, metals, mining etc. encompassed the focus of the meetings, the embassy release further stated.
In particular, they expressed the hope to commence new cooperation initiatives in the areas of formation of Joint Business and Economic Councils, signing agreements on avoidance of Double Taxation and promotion and protection of investments.
The Kosovan ministers exhibited interests particularly on investments from Bangladesh in Kosovo to enjoy low corporate tax- and duty-free access to the US, the EU (post LDC graduation grace period) and the Balkans.
The ambassador of Bangladesh also held a meeting with Rector of University of Pristina and discussed the possibilities of translation of the Unfinished Memoir of our Father of the Nation and proposed exchange of faculties and students of Pristina University and universities of Bangladesh on areas of mutual interests.
He delivered a speech on "Celebration of Golden Jubilee of Independence of Bangladesh: Perspectives of Bangladesh-Kosovo Relations and Ways Forward" to the students of Faculty of Philosophy.
Moreover, he also held a breakfast meeting with businessmen and industrialists of Kosovo Club of Manufacturers led by its CEO Astrit Panxha.
The Kosovan businessmen requested the ambassador for formation of a joint business council, facilitate exchange of visits, export of skilled manpower from Bangladesh as the country has acute shortage of skilled human resources in manufacturing industries due to a large diaspora in EU and exploration of joint ventures in both ends.
The ambassador took part in several meetings to enhance mutual cooperation between Bangladesh and Kosovo
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As the Malaysian market is opening to Bangladeshi workers after around three years, employers in Malaysia have applied to their government till 10 March for hiring around two lakh Bangladeshi workers.
Sector insiders expect that the number will increase in the coming days as the process of applying through the Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS) of the Malaysian human resource ministry will continue till 25 March.
The Malaysian authorities are assessing the demand submitted by the country's employers. After the assessment, Malaysia will recruit workers for all sectors from Bangladesh including plantation, agriculture, manufacturing, services, mining, construction and household service, Malaysian Human Resources Minister M Saravanan told the Malaysian media on Thursday.
However, the process to recruit Bangladeshi workers has not been finalised as a debate over syndication in labour recruitment in Malaysia is swirling around, especially after Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard on 19 December 2021.
At the heart of the debate is a syndicate of 25 Bangladeshi agents and 250 sub-agents mentioned by Malaysian Human Resources Minister M Saravanan in a letter to Bangladesh Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad on 14 January this year.
In response to the letter, Minister Imran Ahmed proposed allowing all the legal Bangladeshi agencies to send workers.
Both the Bangladeshi and Malaysian recruiters have also opposed the proposal of syndication.
Explaining the Malaysian minister's comment, Ahmadul Kobir, a Bangladeshi journalist based in Kuala Lumpur, told TBS, "Earlier, the employers had to apply in FWCMS through agents in Malaysia for recruiting workers. But now the employers are bound to apply directly to FWCMS."
Malaysia is home to around eight lakh Bangladeshis, according to an unofficial estimate.
"We are waiting for a joint working group meeting to discuss the next steps for sending workers according to the signed MoU. We sent a letter in this regard, but we did not get any feedback yet from the Malaysian side," Dr Ahmed Munirus Saleheen, secretary of the expatriate welfare and overseas employment ministry, told TBS.
"We have sent a list of all the registered Bangladeshi recruiting agencies to Malaysia. Now, they will decide about the recruiters who will be involved," he added.
There are around 1,400 registered recruiting agencies in Bangladesh.
A system detailing how Malaysia will take people from the recruiters, how they will conduct medical tests for workers, whether they will give visa in Bangladesh or after the workers reach Malaysia will be finalised at a meeting of the Joint Working Group, Abul Bashar, former president of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira), told TBS.
Malaysia suspended hiring Bangladeshi workers in September 2018 over allegations of malpractice in the recruitment process through a syndication of 10 agencies.
After a hiatus of over three years, Malaysia officially reopened its labour market in 2021 to Bangladeshi workers for five years until December 2026.
To meet the growing demand of workers following the Covid-19 pandemic, the Southeast Asian country has started hiring workers from potential countries, and as part of the move, the Malaysian cabinet on 10 December last year decided to resume the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers.
"Don't care for Malaysian market if there is syndicate"
The local manpower recruiters said a corrupt group of recruiting agents in Bangladesh and Malaysia has created a syndicate to exploit the workers.
Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, former secretary general of Baira, told TBS, "We have never accepted the syndication of recruiters. Our ministry is also in favor of allowing all the registered recruiters, not a selected few."
"Currently, we are sending more than one lakh workers per month to different countries, excluding Malaysia. So, if the Malaysian part continuously puts pressure on Bangladesh to follow the recruiters' syndication, we would not send workers there as we have available jobs in other destinations," he added.
In a statement on 4 December, the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) said the country needs over six lakh foreign workers by the next year for the industrial sector, especially the export-based companies, to overcome the current acute manpower shortage it is facing.
The association found a shortage of skilled general workers, technicians, mechanics and engineers in Malaysia.
The manufacturing sector and sub-sectors like food and beverages, chemical and chemical products, metal and rubber products have the highest demand for workers.
Malaysia has also identified Bangladesh as a second source country for migrant security guards based on an earlier MoU signed between the countries.
The Malaysian employers’ demand for Bangladeshi workers is expected to increase
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Middle Eastern country Iraq wants to buy mango, vegetables and potato from Bangladesh.
Abdulsalam Saddam Mohisen, chargé d'affaires of Iraq embassy in Dhaka, said this in a meeting with Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque at the secretariat in Dhaka yesterday.
Besides, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) would be signed between Bangladesh and Iraq to enhance the cooperation in the agriculture sector, Razzaque said after the meeting.
To this end, a draft will be formulated soon, he said.
Razzaque said discussions have been held on how to enhance Iraq's bilateral relations with Bangladesh further.
He said Iraq usually import agricultural products from India and Turkey.
"The economic situation in Iraq is good now. They have expressed interest in signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the agricultural sector."
They (Iraq) want to take vegetables, mango and potato from Bangladesh.
"We can export potatoes," the minister said.
In the meeting, Mohisen lauded the success of agricultural development in Bangladesh, according to a press release of the ministry.
Middle Eastern country Iraq wants to buy mango, vegetables and potato from Bangladesh.
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