DHAKA: The chief adviser of Bangladesh’s caretaker government, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, has requested Saudi support in training Bangladeshi talent and helping develop their skills.
Yunus, economics professor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, took charge of Bangladesh in August, when ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina quit and fled the country amid violent protests.
His interim administration has since been implementing a series of reforms, after which it is expected to announce new general elections.
Yunus held a meeting with Saudi Ambassador Essa Al-Duhailan at his office in Dhaka on Monday to discuss policy and facilitating investment opportunities from the Kingdom.
“For our development, Saudi Arabia is a very important country. We share many things common in various international forums, including OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation),” Mohammed Abul Kalam Azad Majumder, the chief adviser’s deputy press secretary, told Arab News.
“The discussion with the Saudi Ambassador Essa Yousef Al-Duhailan focused mainly on trade and investment. Prof. Yunus requested more investment from Saudi Arabia and also increased support in the energy sector.”
There are some 3 million Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia, accounting for over half of Bangladeshi migrant workers.
They constitute the largest expat group in the Kingdom and the biggest Bangladeshi community outside Bangladesh.
“Prof. Yunus requested the ambassador to cooperate for building trained human resources in Bangladesh, which will eventually be beneficial for both brotherly countries. In this way, our migrants will receive a better salary in the Kingdom and will be able to send more remittance to the country,” Majumder said.
Helping advance the professional competence of Bangladeshi workers would allow more of them to enter the Saudi labor market, where opportunities are vast with many megaprojects under the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 transformation strategy.
“It will also foster entrepreneurship among Bangladeshi youths. The ambassador said his country is ready to provide necessary support in this regard,” Majumder said.
More than a fourth of Bangladesh’s 170 million population are between the ages of 15 and 29. The unemployment rate is the highest in this group, contributing 83 percent of the total unemployed people in the country.
