Gulf state PM says ‘complexities’ will be discussed in future
The UAE remained closed to further recruitment of Bangladeshi workers, but the governments of the two countries agreed to cooperate on a raft of bilateral concerns during the prime minister’s visit to the Gulf state.
Terming Bangladeshi workers very sincere and hard-working, UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said there are some “complexities” that could be solved through official-level talks.
“When Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina raised the issue at the official meeting, the UAE side said it could be sorted out through bilateral discussions at the official level,” Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune last night.
The UAE prime minister, however, did not elaborate on when or where discussions would take place nor what the time line for discussions might be.
Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates said an agreement on opening up the oil-rich Gulf state’s economy to Bangladeshi labour had not been reached, after an official meeting between the Bangladesh prime minister and her UAE counterpart in Dubai yesterday.
The prime minister left for the UAE on a three-day visit on Saturday at the invitation of Sheikh Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai.
The foreign secretary said UAE authorities had decided to appoint a labour attaché to its embassy in Dhaka.
Three agreements were signed yesterday dealing with security cooperation, the transfer of sentenced persons, and the hand over of a plot of land for the UAE embassy in Dhaka.
Under the security cooperation agreement, different government agencies will share information on various issues, the secretary said.
The Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding with Amala, a UAE-based company, to send domestic workers to the Gulf state.
During the preparation of the draft agreement, Amala verbally expressed a demand for 1,000 housemaids.
The foreign secretary said the recruiting process had been suspended for quite some time but the two countries would now discuss opening up the UAE labour market to Bangladeshi workers, he said.
The Gulf country stopped recruiting Bangladeshis on a mass scale in August 2012 after allegations surfaced that some of them were engaged in criminal activities.
Over a million Bangladeshis work in the UAE, sending home billions of dollars in remittances every year.
Security
Both prime ministers expressed grave concerns over the growth of terrorism worldwide, including the rise of Islamic State in the Middle East region.
“In regard to the Middle East, the UAE underscored the need for peace and stability and stressed that security issues should be addressed,” the foreign secretary said.
The UAE wants Bangladesh on its side while fighting against terrorist movements in the region, he said.
Trade and investment
Both countries agreed to cooperate with each other in the fields of trade, business and investment.
They highlighted higher education, culture, tourism, the blue economy, energy, especially renewable energy, as new areas of cooperation, the foreign secretary said.
Bangladesh and the UAE would work closely on undertaking different UAE-financed projects, he said.
Source:Dhaka Tribune