RIYADH: The outgoing Bangladesh ambassador to Saudi Arabia has praised the growing bond between the two countries as he completes his 5-year tour of duty in the Kingdom.
Golam Moshi, who is due to return to Bangladesh after the Eid Al-Adha holiday, said that ties between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia have “gone from strength to strength” since 2015 when he took charge.
During this period, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has visited the Kingdom five times, meeting King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss regional and international political issues, economic and investment relations, and security and defense cooperation.
The ambassador played a pivotal role in organizing these visits. “Such high-level visits have paved the way for further cooperation between the two countries and transformed the cooperation dynamics from a human resource-based relation to a multi-dimensional partnership,” the Bangladesh Embassy said.
Moshi said that 2019 brought a major success when a strong investment delegation from the Kingdom visited Bangladesh, led by the Saudi minister for economy and planning and the minister for commerce and investment.Subsequently the countries and relevant investors signed a series of agreements to strengthen economic ties.
Moshi worked to generate interest in Bangladesh among major Saudi investors.
The Saudi Bangladesh Joint Economic Commission held two successful meetings during the outgoing ambassador’s tenure.
“The 13th joint commission meeting held in February 2020 has paved the way for enhancing the intensity of economic and bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the years ahead,” Moshi told
Arab News.
“During my tenure more than 40 agreements and MoUs have been revived or introduced that should guide all aspects of cooperation between the two countries including on electricity and power generation, solar energy, LNG supply and seaports,” he said.
Moshi also introduced Expat Digital Centers to bring consular services to applicants around the Kingdom, including almost 2.2 million Bangladeshi resident workers.
Having seen the introduction of Saudi Vision 2030 under the leadership of King Salman, Moshi has tried to identify economic partnerships that will benefit both Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia.
Cooperation on Hajj-related matters between the two countries has increased significantly, with Bangladesh involved in the Makkah Road Initiative. The performance of Hajj will be more comfortable for Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims in the future.