Bangladesh main source of workers, says Malaysian minister

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam with Malaysian Foreign Minister Dato Saifuddin Abdullah on Monday.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam with Malaysian Foreign Minister Dato Saifuddin Abdullah on Monday.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam had a fruitful meeting with Malaysian Foreign Minister Dato Saifuddin Abdullah and WIEF Chairman and former deputy prime minister of Malaysia, Musa Hitam, on Monday.

“Bangladesh would remain an important source of workers for Malaysia. The Malaysian government was smoothening the recruitment and work of these workers,” said the Malaysian foreign minister.

Shahriar Alam is leading a four-member delegation to Kuala Lumpur to garner Malaysian support in an initiative called South and South East Asian Cooperation (SEACO), says a foreign ministry press release.

During the meeting, Bangladesh got their spontaneous support for the initiative.

The state minister in his meeting with the Malaysian foreign minister reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and discussed, among other things, labour migration from Bangladesh and their well- being, bilateral trade and investment.

SEACO is a private sector and track-II level forum of five OIC countries in the region-Bangladesh, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Maldives with a view to advancing regional economic integration, says a foreign ministry press release.

The forum in the emergence is going to function in the model of World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) exclusively with the agenda of economic cooperation among the member countries and their neighbourhoods.

Bangladesh has taken the initiative and ready to host SEACO’s launching conference in Dhaka towards the end of June 2019 with expected participation of the foreign ministers along with the public and private stakeholders.

Two other members of the state minister’s delegation are currently in the entourage of the prime minister Sheikh Hasina to Brunei for the same purpose.

The Rohingya issue also figured prominently in the discussion where they agreed enhanced role of the ASEAN in the repatriation of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas sheltered in Bangladesh.

The delegation is going to meet Malaysian business community and trade and investment authorities/ chambers tomorrow (Tuesday).

The minister’s delegation includes Bangladesh high commissioner to Malaysia Shaidul Islam, DG (International Organisations) of the foreign ministry, AFM Gousal Azam Sarkar, and executive chairman of SESCO Foundation Bangladesh Salauddin K Khan and other officials of the ministry and the Bangladesh high commission.