DHAKA: Bangladesh Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud sought cooperation for the import of crude oil during a meeting with his Saudi counterpart in Jeddah, as the South Asian nation works to secure support to help address challenges in its fragile economy.

Mahmud met with the Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on the sidelines of an Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Jeddah on Tuesday, where they joined other foreign ministers to discuss Israel’s ongoing aggression in Palestine.

“During the meeting, (the) Bangladesh foreign minister expressed satisfaction on the level of bilateral engagement between the two brotherly countries and hoped that such cooperation would deepen in the coming days,” the Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a release.  

“He looked forward to further (augmenting) sectoral cooperation between the two countries and (increasing) trade and investment opportunities. Foreign Minister Mahmud (also) sought cooperation in crude oil purchase.”

Bangladesh imports most of its oil needs and requires about 1.5 million metric tons of crude oil annually, according to the Bangladesh Petroleum Corp., which controls the import and marketing of fuel in the country.

As the nation is struggling to pay for some imported fuel due to its dwindling foreign reserves, a deferred payment facility from Saudi Arabia will be helpful, said BPC Deputy General Manager Zahid Hossain.

“It’s very important as we are importing a large volume of crude oil from Saudi Arabia … If we can achieve this opportunity, it will definitely be a great support for us,” Hossain told Arab News on Wednesday.

Bangladesh currently imports around 700,000 metric tons of crude oil from Saudi Aramco and has so far managed to pay the Kingdom on time with the help of funds from the Jeddah-based International Islamic Trade Finance Corp., he added.

“If we can defer the payment longer than 30 days, we would be able to use this ITFC fund to import other refined petroleum products. So, it will ease our financial burden to some extent,” he said.

A deferred payment facility from Saudi Arabia will “play a very significant role” in easing the economic crisis in Bangladesh, said Dr. Ijaz Hossain, an energy expert and professor at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

“Due to the dollar crunch, we are facing many difficulties in purchasing the oil. But we are expecting that things will improve in the coming days, and it has to improve. Otherwise, we have to readdress many other issues in the economy,” Hossain told Arab News.

“The opportunity of a deferred payment for oil import will be a great help for us. In fact, it’s a desperate need of the moment.”