Saudi Aramco came to Bangladesh thrice, but not welcomed: Saudi ambassador

Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant Aramco tried to invest a huge amount of money in Bangladesh but it could not do so. Aramco with a high profile delegation visited Bangladesh thrice between 2016 and 2018 but none received them.

Despite this, Aramco is interested in investing in Bangladesh to set up an oil refinery in the country, Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Essa Youssef Essa Al Duhailan said Sunday.

The ambassador made the allegations while speaking at the launching of a report titled “Enhancing Saudi-Bangladesh Economic Engagement: Trends, Key Challenges & Long-Term Growth Prospects” at the foreign ministry on Sunday.

Addressing the same programme, foreign adviser Touhid Hossain said, “We have been claiming for a long time, our country is investment-friendly, but actually this is not true all the time. The incumbent government has been trying to change the situation. We are taking steps to make doing business easier for the investors.”

He also mentioned that if the Saudi investors visit Bangladesh now, they would find a better environment here.

The foreign ministry with the help of Policy Exchange, a policy research institution, published the report on potential trade and commerce between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia. This is the first time the foreign ministry published such a report exploring the opportunities available for enhancing the trade and commercial relation with any country.

The Saudi ambassador said, “A high profile delegation of Aramco visited Bangladesh thrice between the years 2016 and 2018 but nobody received them. When they were moving from the Prime Minister’s Office to the minister’s office, then to secretaries and civil servants, they frequently got stuck. This is because there were some people who only saw their own interests. But we will not talk about the past. We will talk about the future.”

He further said that Aramco is interested in coming to Bangladesh. The company wants to set up an oil refinery in the Bay of Bengal. Such an oil refinery would help supply oil to Bangladesh and this region.

The proposed refinery is expected to meet Bangladesh’s growing demand for petroleum products and serve the broader regional market, bringing transformative changes to the energy landscape, the ambassador noted.

“If a maritime route is established between Chattogram and Jeddah or Dammam, it could bring transformative changes to Bangladesh and the region,” he said, adding that the refinery’s products could also be exported to China, India, and other neighbouring countries.

“We have some success stories. Our international company, Red Sea Gateway Terminal, is operating the Patenga terminal and is interested in working at the Matarbari deep-sea port,” the envoy mentioned.

Finance and Science and Technology Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed spoke as the chief guest at the programme.

He said, “Corruption and various policy mistakes in the past have cost us. Many foreign giant investors, including Saudi Arabia’s Aramco and South Korea’s Samsung could not make investment in Bangladesh due to policy shortcomings. They approached us but were not received well and eventually (Samsung) moved to Vietnam. Those were policy mistakes. These need to be corrected now.”

“We may be here for a short period, but we aim to leave behind a clear pathway for others to follow and build upon,” he added.

Highlighting the multidimensional relationship between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia, Dr. Salehuddin noted the importance of fostering stronger trade and economic ties.

“Saudi Arabia is a crucial partner for us, and our trade volume, currently at US$ 2 billion, holds immense potential for growth,” he said.

Salehuddin Ahmed said, “Bangladesh has a multidimensional relationship with Saudi Arabia. For us Saudi Arabia is very important in terms of commerce and economics. Many countries are telling us about free trade; we are getting ready; but there are many challenges for this. It’s not possible for the government alone to face this challenge, we need the cooperation of the private sector for this.”

Foreign secretary Md. Jashim Uddin, foreign secretary (East) Md. Nazrul Islam, and Policy Exchange chairman Masrur Riaz also spoke at the event, emphasising the need for coordinated efforts to attract foreign investments and foster economic growth.