POBNEWS24, Dhaka Dec 13, 2022 : State Minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar
Alam has said Bangladesh needs “brotherly support” from Saudi Arabia to
fulfill its energy demands amid global oil crisis due to Russia- Ukraine war.
He made the remark while Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Bangladesh Essa Yousef
Essa Al Duhailan paid a courtesy call on him at foreign ministry here on
Monday, a foreign ministry press release said today.
In reply, the envoy assured that he would take up the oil supply issue with
the concerned Saudi stakeholders.
During the meeting, the Ambassador expressed satisfaction at the state of
excellent bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia which is
growing rapidly in various fields including political, economic, defence,
manpower, business, trade and investment.
The envoy apprised the State Minister about the follow-up of the visit by the
Saudi Deputy Interior Minister to Dhaka in last November 2022.
He also updated him about the increasing engagement of Saudi investors in
various fields including potential Saudi investment in the EEZ earmarked for
Saudi Arabia.
Alam stated that his office was ready to push forward any issues/proposals
from the Saudi side in making headways.
The Saudi Envoy also apprised the Minister about the recent terrorist
activities conducted by the Houthis in Arab peninsula despite ceasefire.
He appreciated the role of Bangladesh in supporting Saudi Arabia and in
denouncing terrorism against the Houthis.
The State Minister underlined the need to engage more efforts to scale up
bilateral collaboration with Saudi Arabia beyond the traditional labour
market and Hajj and Umrah.
He stated that Saudi Arabia was playing a more visible role in multilateral
fora which is encouraging for the Muslim Ummah.
Alam stressed the need for expanding collaboration in the new and emerging
areas through time-bound and target-oriented roadmap and expedite pending
investment agenda and new areas of collaboration.
