Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Essa Yussef Essa Al Dulaihan on Wednesday said the “dynamic partnership” and long-standing relations between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia will further flourish and reach to a new height.
“My utmost priority is to work for the betterment of the people of Bangladesh, maintain the good relationship and take it to a new height,” he said while briefing the journalists at the new premise of the Saudi Embassy in Dhaka.
Every year, the ambassador said, 150,000 Bangladeshis travel to Saudi Arabia in order to perform Hajj.
“We hope that, insha’Allah, after getting back to the new normal we will be able to accommodate the Bangladeshi pilgrims like past years,” Al Dulaihan said.
In terms of manpower export, the Saudi envoy said, solid contacts have been developed between Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh, which benefits Bangladesh economy and the lives of the migrant workers’ families as well.
The people of Saudi Arabia also deeply acknowledge the contribution of Bangladeshi workers towards the development of the Saudi economy, he said, adding that for both countries, it is a “win-win” situation.
More than 2.3 million Bangladeshi labours are employed in Saudi Arabia in diverse fields, said the Saudi envoy.
Despite the fact that recruitment has been reduced or halted as a result of the pandemic, Saudi Arabia continues to take manpower from Bangladesh, and the flights between the two brotherly countries did not stop or even suspended, he said.
During the last five years, the envoy said, Saudi Arabia has issued more than 1.4 million work visas and on November 1 last year, they issued almost 8,500 work visas in a single day.
Now they issue 4000 visas every working day. “We hope to keep this trend going.”
The embassy issued last week more than 38000 work visas with a new record of 12300 issued in one working day.
To combat the Covid-19 pandemic, the ambassador said, Saudi Arabia through King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center provided medical commodity worth US$ 1 million including 23 ventilator set and more than 1.5 million vaccines for Bangladesh.
He said Bangladeshis in the Kingdom also received necessary medical treatment for free assistance as part of the Kingdom’s efforts in confronting Covid-19 pandemic and distinguished relationship between the two brotherly countries.
“We are pleased to report that several universities throughout the Kingdom have raised the number of scholarships available to Bangladeshi students besides employing faculty members,” the ambassador said.
Source: United News of Bangladesh