Malaysia has assured that it would look after the Bangladeshi workers so that they do not face any adverse situation there.
The assurance came from the visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Bin Razak during a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Monday.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led the Bangladesh side, while visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak the Malaysian side.
After the talks, PM’s Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad briefed reporters.
The Malaysian side expressed their interest to invest more in Bangladesh’s potential sectors. They said they want to make more investment in Bangladesh’s potential sectors and Malaysian entrepreneurs are exploring the sectors.
At the talks, the Malaysian premier wished success of the Bangladesh Prime Minister in the upcoming election. “We want the
democratic trend to continue in Bangladesh,” he said.
Referring to the huge number of workers working in Malaysia, Najib Razak told the Bangladesh side that they need more workers for further development of the country.
At the talks, Sheikh Hasina urged the Malaysian government to recruit more workers from Bangladesh.
“We have developed a pool of semi-skilled and skilled workforce ready to work in any area of the economy. I would request you to consider them during recruitment for development activities,” she said.
The Prime Minister said two nations’ depth of friendship is evident from the significant number of Bangladeshis working in Malaysia. They are contributing to the socioeconomic transformation of both the countries, she said.
Sheikh Hasina thanked the Malaysian government for regularising more than half of them under the 6-P Programme and for resuming the employment for Bangladeshi nationals.
Mentioning that Bangladesh has one of the most investment friendly policies in South Asia, the Prime Minister welcomed Malaysian investment in attractive sectors like power, telecommunications, urea fertilizer plants, infrastructure development and cement production.
“I am happy that our two governments are negotiating to construct a 1320 MW coal based power plant in Cox’s Bazar. I welcome more investment from Malaysia for this sector,” she said.
The Prime Minister sought more Malaysian engagements for building bridges and highways on build, own, operate and transfer basis.
Calling upon the Malaysian government for removing non- tariff barriers of Bangladeshi products, the Prime Minister said the export our goods could increase if these barriers are removed.
Sheikh Hasina said relaxation of the import licensing requirement as given to other countries of the region could also help raise Bangladeshi exports to Malaysia.
“I believe our Free Trade Agreement under negotiations would also help in improving the balance of trade,” she said.
The Prime Minister said the two countries are characterized as liberal, tolerant Muslim majority countries with common religious and cultural ethos, social tolerance and ethnic cohesion.
She said Bangladesh’s commitment to global peace is proven through our role as a top troop contributor to the UN peacekeeping missions and our position on disarmament and non- proliferation.
The Bangladesh side in the talks included Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni, Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Engineer Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, Industries Minister Dilip Barua, Ambassador-At-Large M Ziauddin, Principal Secretary Shaikh Md Wahid Uz Zaman, Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque, PMO secretary Mollah Waheeduzzaman and Press secretary Abul Kalam Azad.
Earlier, the two prime ministers had a tete-a-tete at the Prime Minister’s Office.
At the meeting, the two leaders mentioned that there is a strong bond between the two countries and hoped that it would be strengthened in the years to come.
They also discussed issues relating to bilateral interests, the Press Secretary said.
