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Thursday | 16 January 2025 | Epaper

Exclusive Interview of Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Bangladesh

Published : Friday, 12 March, 2021 at 12:00 AM  Count : 1940
Shahriar Feroze
In an exclusive interview given to The Daily Observer, Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Bangladesh, Issa bin Youssef Al-Duhailan spoke on a number of issues on our bilateral ties and beyond. The interview has been conducted by our Assitant Editor, Shahriar Feroze and has been published in an opinion format. 


I have the honor to be the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Bangladesh in my first Ambassadorial assignment. I have been extended warm reception and hospitality by His Excellency the President of the Republic, the Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Hon'ble Ministers, the government officers and the extra-ordinary brotherly people.
I am fortunate that the observance of the Birth Centenary of the Father of the Nation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman coincided with the first year of my Mission in Bangladesh. Although, the unpredictable circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 'new normal' have resulted in unprecedented constraints in diplomatic arena around the globe, we have put the best of our efforts as a team to ensure smooth functioning of our regular activities and extend consular services through in-person or virtual platform.

I have found the vividness and amicability in cooperation during the meetings at different levels since I have arrived last year just before the world-wide lock-down came into force and the last few months when the 'new normal' in Bangladesh resumed with some restrictions.

I would appreciate all concerned partners in Bangladesh both from the public and the private sectors as most of our objectives could be accomplished and progressed very quickly irrespective of whether it is related to political, economic, cultural or tourism affairs or the most visible one: the field of Manpower recruitment from Bangladesh.

I would also like to record my admiration and applause the extra-ordinary measures taken by the Bangladesh government to combat COVID-19 which have contributed in the significant decline of the numbers of infections and deaths in comparison to the population density as well as the nationwide campaign to administer the vaccination program throughout the country.
Thanks to Allah Almighty.

H E Issa bin Youssef Al-Duhailan

H E Issa bin Youssef Al-Duhailan

I would like to applaud the awareness of the Bangladeshi citizens in their commitment to the health and preventive measures during this pandemic home and abroad, and also I must particularly refer to the Hon'ble Prime Minister's repeated directives to maintain public health and safety measures.

Saudi-Bangladesh relations:

Our bilateral ties have reached a new height and the best of relationships between our two brotherly countries. Our fraternal relations have deep roots historically speaking, and extend beyond 45 years of our distinguished diplomatic relations. The legacy of our fraternal bond, endeavor for cooperation and mutual understanding is being transformed under the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques H. M. King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud and the Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as partnership to achieve our common aspirations and pursue our vision.

Saudi-Bangladesh relationship is multifaceted which is not only limited to diplomatic, political, economic, security, defense or cultural relations and also deserves not be evaluated through the Manpower lens.

We have developed vibrant cooperation in multilateral arena over the years through our collaboration in international organizations such as the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation etc.

The Kingdom hosts about 2.2 million Bangladeshis who are actively contributing to the economic development of Saudi Arabia as well as they also play a vital role for the development of Bangladesh by sending remittance worth $3.5 billion which assists as means of than 10 million people including family members of migrant Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia. In addition, these workers act as an integral part to translate the Vision 2030 of the Kingdom.

Our Cooperation in the field of air services could be considered as one of the most visible ones in public domain as it is related to the transport of Bangladeshis who work in the Kingdom and cater their needs to travel both ways, as well as Hajj and Umrah pilgrims to the House of Allah and the visitors to the Prophet's Mosque.

Our cultural relation is now evolving under the leadership of the HRH, Crown Prince. Recently, our government, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques approved a funding for the establishment of an Arabic Language Institute in Dhaka, which we aspire to project as a center of excellence to learn Arabic language and the Arabic culture in Bangladesh. Moreover, the Royal assistance for the construction of 8 iconic mosques in all divisions of Bangladesh including the founding of King Salman Mosque, which will be the Center of Excellence of religious, cultural and Islamic civilization in this part of the world.

We may humbly mention that the Kingdom had been one of the largest international development partners of Bangladesh. We have implemented more than 50 projects and provided grants and assistance in development of infrastructure in Bangladesh through the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) and other organizations. The King Salman Center has also been playing an important role in providing aid and assistance which has resulted in more than 30 visits of officials who have conducted programs of activities such as the establishment of hospitals with the provision of medical devices and equipment, conducting medical operations for eyesight, the rehabilitation of villages affected by floods or other natural disasters, the distribution of food baskets in Ramadan for the vulnerable communities and the Forcefully displaced Myanmar nationals i.e. the Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar.

The Corona pandemic has already affected the economies all over the world irrespective of their strength. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is no exception. Our government has taken numerous measures to combat the pandemic addressing its economic effects by providing huge economic stimulus packages worth of $57 billion through more than 142 initiatives in order to prevent job losses in the private sector, made sure that there is no decline in wages and overall ensured the readiness of all economic activities and the resumption of normalcy in economic activities work.

The Kingdom has not deviated itself from its plans concerning recruitment, except for the application of health precautions and the safety measures to prevent the spread of the epidemic, as the developed nations did. The Kingdom took extra-ordinary efforts to combat this pandemic which was evident throughout its Presidency of the G20 summit, following the commitment for international efforts to combat it with a fund of $500 million.

Our efforts also included providing free treatment to the COVID-19 patients in the Kingdom irrespective of citizenship which did not exclude the violators of the residency. We have provided free treatment to more than 15,000 Bangladeshis who were infected with the virus and the service will be continued. We are now inoculating our citizens and residents with the COVID-19 vaccines free who desire in accordance with the priority categories all over the Kingdom.

We may also note that Kingdom of Saudi Arabia made sure that neither the renewal nor the issuance of new visas to Bangladeshi workforce is suspended.

Nor had the flights between the Kingdom and Bangladesh were banned during the lock-down which clearly indicates the strength of our fraternal bond between the two brotherly countries. During last 5 years 1.6 million work visas has been issued by Saudi Arabia for recruitment from Bangladesh.

With regard to investment in Bangladesh, the Prime Minister during her visit to the Kingdom in 2016 extended the invitation to companies, investors and businessmen in the Kingdom to explore the possibilities to invest in Bangladesh.

A significant number of Saudi investors responded to her invitation. There are big Saudi companies which have already progressed towards investment in Bangladesh such as Red Sea Gateway Terminal, Al Fanar, Engineering Dimension, Al Bawani Construction, Al Hokair Hospitality Group and Herfy Food Group. Moreover, large multinationals such as ARAMCO, SABIC, ACWA Power has expressed interest and some esteemed national ones have forwarded their investment proposals which have got a wider portfolio such as power, energy, oil refinery, aircraft maintenance, Logistics, electrical devices, fertilizer, paper, hospitality, telecommunications and renewable/green technologies etc. to the relevant authorities in Bangladesh which is worth more than $15 billion and with proper planning, which required necessary cooperation  and support, such investment will reach few-folds more.

As the investment in Bangladesh is completely a new venture for most of our companies, I hope to facilitate in expediting the requisite procedures from our side to get the investments through and also focus on resolving the constraints faced by our investors and hence provide the necessary support and assistance for these investments to the Bangladesh government.

I would also like to invite the businessmen and companies in Bangladesh to invest in the Saudi Arabia as Vision 2030 of the Kingdom has already created a lot of opportunities. SAGIA has recently accorded investment licenses to companies 100% owned & operated by Bangladeshi for setting-up projects in KSA. My office in Dhaka is ready to extend all support and assistance to Bangladeshi businessmen willing to invest in Saudi Arabia.

KSA's Vision 2030:

The Saudi Crown Prince, Prince Muhammad bin Salman, announced that the Kingdom's Public Investment Fund will double its assets to reach (US $ 1.07 trillion) by the year 2025 and this strategy will certainly play a substantive role in achieving the aspirations of our country towards sustaining the momentum of sustainable economic growth and transforming the quality of life.

Our Vision 2030, which is based on comprehensive, inclusive and sustainable development, encompasses a holistic approach among various traditional and evolving sectors that will play a pivotal role in achieving many of our aspirations in the coming years.

It is noteworthy and remarkable to mention that we will allocate at least $ 40 billion annually into the local economy with gradual increments until 2025, and also continue in providing subsidies to the non-Gross Domestic Product sectors with a cumulative value of 320 million dollars. By the end of 2025, the fund aims to have assets exceeding $ 1.07 trillion and create 1.8 million jobs, directly and indirectly, in pursuit of the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 which will eventually diversify the Kingdom's economy and deepen the impact making role of the Kingdom in both  regional and global arena.

Companies and businessmen from Bangladesh will have enhanced opportunities to establish partnerships with the private sector in the Kingdom and hence determine ways to reap benefit from the evolving opportunities, unexplored and untapped new economic sectors and become the provider of jobs that our Vision 2030 will entail.

Bangladeshi labor-force needs to be trained in accordance with the evolving demand-supply of the Saudi labor/job market under the Vision 2030. We have a new beginning in terms of B-B meetings.

Businessmen from both countries have already met on the sidelines of the meetings of the 13th Saudi-Bangladesh Joint Committee meetings in Dhaka in February 2020.
We have proposed multiple bilateral agreements/MOUs/proposals concerning investments in Bangladesh that are pending since 2019. I would like to mobilize the collaboration and partnerships between businessmen of the two countries.

The Kingdom has special consideration for Bangladesh as a brotherly country and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in a royal order has offered a fund in the form of a grant of 20 million US dollars to build 8 iconic mosques in Bangladesh. This issue was discussed during my call on with the Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, as well as during my meeting with His Excellency Minister of State for Religious Affairs.

We are awaiting the identification of suitable sites to build these Mosques by the competent authorities in Bangladesh which will pave the way for a visit of a high-level Saudi delegation and hold discussions concerning the process of initiation of the construction of mosques as well as exchange of views in transforming these mosques as Centers of Excellence.

The Kingdom ensures that every resident will enjoy her/his rights that are guaranteed by our excellent rule of law. Our laws are equally applicable to the citizens of the Kingdom and the foreigners. Every resident of the Kingdom is subject to an independent judiciary process in accordance with Sharia.

The presence of approximate 12 million foreign residents in the Kingdom bears the testimony of the satisfaction of their decision to work and reside there considering the Kingdom as their second home. The verdict issued against guilty Saudi citizens for the unexpected and sorrowful murder incident of a Bangladeshi citizen testifies our rule of law and firm commitment for Human Rights.

The Kingdom will spare no efforts to ensure justice for everyone and will protect everyone who resides in its territory irrespective of the status: citizens, residents or visitors. The judgments of the judiciary in our country are independent and fair. We appreciate the comments of the Honorable Foreign Minister of Bangladesh concerning the recent verdict about the pathetic incident and sincerely commend his applause concerning the fair and independent judiciary system of the Kingdom.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a Geo-strategically located pivotal country which enjoys a distinguished geographical location that connects the continents. It has got significant economic stakes as one of the largest oil producers in the world.

Given that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been bestowed with Arab, Islamic and global dimensions, it seeks to develop its economic and social system in line with the global development. When His Highness the Crown Prince announced the Kingdom's Vision 2030, he envisioned to project the Kingdom in the ranks of the great powers and developed nations.

The first five years of the Vision 2030 of the Kingdom has brought tremendous transformation in each and every sector of our society and economy with a special focus on the sustainability and the protection of the environment.

If we consider our tourism sector, the Kingdom has managed to start building attractive tourist cities that are distinguished by the natural beauty with state of art facilities i.e. the latest global technologies and artificial intelligence. I can refer to the city of NEOM which has got the first waterfront in the Kingdom in addition to the sea project Al-Ahmar and the rail-line project.

We are endeavoring to project a portfolio of various tourist attractions such as the historical monuments in the city of Al-Ula, Mada'in Saleh and the Al-Souda Mountains. Moreover, we have also seen the evolution of recreational and seasonal tourism that is developed in our capital Riyadh for the first time and this has re-branded Riyadh as a popular tourist and carnival destination.

On the other hand, we have seen quantum leaps in terms of diversification of non fossil-fuel income sources through the Public Investment Fund (PIF). We have enhanced the level of services in our projects, as well as introduced value-added tax (VAT) which will contribute as an important tributary of the kingdom's budget.

We have taken decision to make sure that foreign companies which have been provided with contracts in government projects open offices in our capital, Riyadh, to ensure raising the efficiency of their work and allocate a large percentage of jobs for the Saudi citizens.

On the social level, the participation and empowerment of women in our Vision-2030 is an integral and inalienable part to pave the way to assume higher responsibilities in key positions in both the public and private sectors.

We have also amended laws concerning gender empowerment such as ensuring our women the rights for driving cars, investment, freedom to travel by themselves and equitable entitlement to many other social rights.

We consider that women are an integral and indispensable part of our society and a complementing partner for men in success, progress and prosperity. Empowerment of women is considered as an essential part of the Vision 2030 of the Kingdom ensured by legal bindings.

Recently, we have introduced and approved four legislative systems in the Kingdom: the Personal Status System, the Civil Transactions System, the Penal System for Penalties and the Evidence System which will further consolidate our existing exemplary legal system and also ensure achievement of social justice and prevention of discretionary judgments.

Our vision 2030 will not only ensure the well-being of the residents of the Kingdom through diversified, sustainable and inclusive economic development but also have a ripple effect for countries of the region and transform the Kingdom as a model in Fourth Industrial Revolution and elevate it to the ranks of the developed countries.

My concluding message  

The People's Republic of Bangladesh is close to my heart. During my tenure, our focus will be on transforming the relation between the two countries to higher and strategic partnership level beyond the Manpower lens which would encompass a wider spectrum of cooperation in miscellaneous and diversified areas with a special concentration on Public Diplomacy i.e. connecting the youth of Bangladesh with the Saudis who might have only been introduced to the Manpower of Bangladesh concentrated in the Kingdom.

The exchange of visits between the academics, think-tanks, researchers, members of scientific/agricultural/ technical communities, exchange of sports delegations, exchange between the diplomatic academies, bridging the Start-ups, exchange program between the officers of the government and the private business sectors of the two countries are needed to have more focus and deserve exploration which will eventually impact bilateral relations, trade, build brand image of our products and will have an important and significant impact in translating bilateral relations to newer and higher levels.

During my tenure as the Ambassador of my country in the People's Republic of Bangladesh, I hope that Bangladesh will not only become a new tourist destination for the citizens of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but also Bangladeshi products will take the shelves of Saudi super-markets, Bangladeshi fashion brands will be the favorites of   every Saudi households, Bangladeshi innovation in technologies/apps/Fin-tech solutions/ AI based technologies/ Block-chain/Quantum computing solutions etc. will become favorite for the Saudi youth, Bangladeshi skilled professionals, technicians and labor force will take the major share of the evolving Saudi economy under the 4th Industrial Revolution and our new Generation will be introduced with the human nature of the people of this hospitable country, enjoy the bounties of its natural beauty and come across the overall the inner spirit of Islam that you see everywhere in Bangladesh.








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