Saudi Ambassador Essa Youssef Essa Al Duhailan pays a courtesy call on Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus at his office in Dhaka on Monday. — PID Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus urges Saudi Arabia to invest more in Bangladesh and seeks liquidity support alongside enhanced energy and economic cooperation to boost ties between the two friendly nations.
He made the call when Saudi Ambassador in Bangladesh Essa Youssef Essa Al Duhailan paid a courtesy call on him at his office in Dhaka on Monday, said a spokesperson for the CA Office.
"This is the time Saudi Arabia could give the best support to us," the head of post-uprising interim government told the Saudi envoy, terming the relationship between the two countries "unique" and " separate" than that of other countries.
Professor Yunus told the ambassador to convey his request to the Saudi government for depositing funds with Bangladesh's central bank to boost liquidity support as part of economic cooperation.
It will be "a wonderful gesture to the Interim Government".
He also called for concessional supply of energy and petroleum products, enhanced trade and increased Saudi investment in the training of the Bangladeshi young people so that Dhaka can send more skilled and trained workers to the oil-rich gulf country.
Ambassador Al Duhailan acknowledged the contribution of the Bangladeshi diaspora in Saudi Arabia, saying that gaining more skills would help them earn a better salary and send more remittances back home.
Currently, nearly 3.0 million Bangladeshis are employed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, sending billions of US dollars annually.
The ambassador said Saudi Arabia issues on average 5,000 visas to Bangladeshi migrants and Muslim pilgrims daily.
In 2023, about half a million Bangladeshis visited Saudi Arabia to perform umrah hajj, a 37-percent increase over the previous year.
Ambassador Al Duhailan said his country was eager to invest more in Bangladesh and sought support from the office of the Chief Adviser to facilitate proposed Saudi investment in port and logistics sectors, especially in Matarbari Deep-sea Port, and power and renewable-energy sectors by Acwa Power.
He handed over two letters from the Custodian of Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman congratulating the Chief Adviser on the occasion of Saudi national day.
"My government wants to see stability in Bangladesh, and Inshallah, is ready to support the Bangladesh government," said the Saudi Arabian diplomat.
He presented the Chief Adviser a copy of the Holy Quran and a replica of the falcon, the national bird of Saudi Arabia.
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