By Golam Moshi

SINCE the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1975 Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia have been maintaining cordial and closer bonds of friendship characterized by mutual understanding and deep fraternity. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest and most valued destination for the Bangladesh workforces, who contribute significantly to the national development of both the countries. The flow of remittance from Saudi Arabia to Bangladesh is about to 21.92% of total remittance, which is approximately $34 billion in 2018.

Both the countries share common perception on many issues in regional and international arenas, particularly the issues relating to Islamic Ummah. In fact, common priorities, shared perspectives and fraternal relations have strengthened collaboration between the two countries within UN, OIC and other international and regional forums. The existing bonds of friendship between the two countries have been further cemented by ever deepening bilateral ties in the fields of economy, trade, investment, defense, cultural, education, manpower etc. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia now stands as one of the most important bilateral partners of Bangladesh; relationship dynamics of both the countries have evolved from one-dimensional cooperation to a multilayered cooperation over the years to reach the present level of maturity.

As the engagements are growing, Bangladesh Prime Minster Sheikh Hasina decided to undertake her sixth official visit to Saudi Arabia on Oct. 16-19, 2018, in an effort to further strengthen the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia. This visit saw intensive engagements of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh in Saudi Arabia with an audience with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salaman, meeting with the Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, and attendance at a business seminar in Riyadh.

During the meeting with the King the entire gamut of bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest were discussed. Both the leaders commended the unprecedented gain in momentum of bilateral relations of two countries in recent years and emphasized further expansion of the relations in coming days through cooperation and engagements at different levels.

Saudi ‘Vision 2030’ promoted by the Saudi government under the guidance of the Saudi King and the transformational development of the Kingdom offers Bangladesh to explore for new areas of engagements in areas of manpower, trade, investment, education and agriculture. On the other hand Bangladesh’s ‘Vision 2021’, to become a middle-income country, and ‘Vision 2041’, to attain the status of a high mid-income country, warrants Bangladesh to engage in a fast growing trade and economic cooperation with major partners like Saudi Arabia. During the meeting it was reiterated that the cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh would continue and both the countries would be development partners. To fulfill this objective, exchanges of economic and investment-related delegations between the two countries and utilizing the opportunities of economic, cultural and defense cooperation would play a pivotal role.

In terms of cooperation in the international and regional fora, Bangladesh Prime Minister appreciated the great visionary roles played by the King for the development of the Muslim Ummah. There is a special place of Saudi Arabia in the hearts of Bangladeshi Muslims as the two holy mosques exist in Makkah and Madinah and Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Thus a great opportunity exists between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia to work together to disseminate real message of Islam so that none could benefit by misrepresenting Islam in the respective countries.

On the other hand, during the meeting between the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh the recent development activities of Bangladesh, particularly in areas of food security, housing, education, and poverty reduction were highlighted. The Crown Prince appreciated the unprecedented gain in momentum of bilateral relations of two countries in recent years and emphasized on the need for further expansion of the relations through cooperation in trade, investment and communication at different levels. During the meeting, the government of Bangladesh offered to allocate a huge chunk of land in Bangladesh to establish an exclusive economic zone for Saudi investors, which should encourage more Saudi investors to invest in Bangladesh.

In this regard, Crown Prince said that Saudi Arabia is interested in widening its relation with Bangladesh for mutual benefit of both countries. He also stressed on regular interactions of business bodies of the two countries for further accelerating trade and investment between the two countries. He also stressed on regular interactions of business bodies of the two countries for further accelerate of trade and investment between the two countries.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also graced a business session in Riyadh organized by Council of Saudi Chambers and Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh. The business session was attended by the leaders of the Council of Saudi Chambers and Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other business leaders.

The business meeting hoped that it would increase engagements between the two countries business leaders and will create more opportunities for Saudi investors to explore investment opportunities in Bangladesh. The meeting highlighted the need to exchange trade delegations between the two chambers to identify the priorities and opportunities of trade and investment between the two countries thereby achieving the untapped potentials of the two-way trade and investment between the two countries.

Bangladesh Prime Minister urged the Saudi entrepreneurs and businessmen to invest in the 100 Special Economic Zones in the priority sectors like energy, power, infrastructure and communication networks, high tech parks, IT, textiles and agro-based industries. Appraising the vision of Bangladesh to achieve the status of high middle-income country by 2021 and a developed country by 2041 the Prime Minister urged the Saudi Investors and entrepreneurs to take advantage of the best investment and business climate prevailing in Bangladesh. She expressed hope that Saudi entrepreneurs would particularly benefit if they opt for one or two economic zones in Bangladesh that would be exclusively for the Saudi investors.

As part of the latest development on bilateral economic and investment cooperation between the two countries, a ministerial level delegation headed by the Minister of Commerce and Investment and Minister of Economy and Planning of Saudi Arabia visited Bangladesh on March, 7, 2019, to explore business and investment opportunities existing in Bangladesh. The team comprising of 32 members from government and private sector including delegates from Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Fund for Development and other business entities had a fruitful and effective session in Bangladesh.

During the visit of the delegation two agreements and four MoUs were signed between the two sides on investment cooperation. The two sides also agreed to review the progress on investment cooperation within next two months. It is expected that with the materialization of the commitments of the leaders of both the countries — especially in the economic and investment sector — the overall relationship dynamics between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia will be fundamentally changed in next few years.

— The writer is Ambassador of Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia