Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has called on Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to quickly open Malaysia’s labour market for Bangladeshis.
He made the call on Monday at 11:30 a.m. local time at a joint press conference at the Malaysian prime minister’s office in Putrajaya.
‘I have asked Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to consider recruiting more Bangladeshi workers and opening the labour market quickly,’ the prime minister said. ‘I also raised the regularisation of irregular workers and the possible repatriation of detained Bangladeshis.’
‘We have agreed that the worker-recruitment process must be transparent, fair and affordable, so that the role of middlemen is reduced and workers’ costs come down,’ he said.
After the high-level meeting between the two countries, Anwar Ibrahim and Tarique Rahman took part in the joint press conference. Anwar Ibrahim spoke first, welcoming Bangladesh’s prime minister, after which Tarique Rahman spoke on the substance of the bilateral meeting.
Thanking Anwar Ibrahim at the start, Tarique Rahman said: ‘After I took charge as Bangladesh’s prime minister last February, the first greeting message I received was from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. He congratulated me and invited me to visit Malaysia.’
‘I feel honoured to have been able to accept his sincere invitation,’ he said. ‘We are very happy to have come to Malaysia, with my wife, on my first foreign trip as prime minister.’
Recalling the late President Ziaur Rahman’s visit to Malaysia in 1979, Tarique Rahman said: ‘That visit further strengthened the political relations between the two countries and laid the foundation for labour cooperation.’
‘I also recall the 1993 Malaysia visit of my mother, former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia,’ he said. ‘That visit deepened our friendship and opened up new areas of bilateral cooperation.’
‘Malaysia is a longstanding, trusted and close partner of Bangladesh,’ the prime minister said. ‘Our friendship has been built on mutual trust, shared values and strong people-to-people ties.’
Tarique Rahman thanked Anwar Ibrahim and the government and people of Malaysia for the warm reception and hospitality. ‘Once again, I thank the Malaysian government and people for their friendship and sincere hospitality. We return home with sweet memories,’ he said.
Describing the bilateral meeting as fruitful, the prime minister said: ‘I had extensive and productive talks with the Malaysian prime minister. We discussed various aspects of bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on the regional and international situation.’
‘Today we reaffirmed our commitment to further strengthen Bangladesh-Malaysia relations,’ he said. ‘We agreed to increase engagement through existing frameworks, including the Joint Commission meeting and the bilateral consultation process between the two foreign ministries.’
‘We welcomed the growth in bilateral trade and decided to take forward discussions on a Bangladesh-Malaysia free trade agreement,’ he said.
Welcoming the exchange of a memorandum of understanding on culture, a document on cooperation in counterterrorism research and capacity-building, and a bilateral investment document, the prime minister said: ‘These initiatives will further strengthen our cooperation and help maintain the positive momentum of the relationship.’
‘I firmly believe today’s talks will begin a new chapter in Bangladesh-Malaysia relations,’ he said. ‘We look forward to working together to build joint prosperity, regional peace and a more inclusive international order.’
After the meeting, a memorandum of understanding on culture was signed in the presence of the two prime ministers. A document on cooperation in counterterrorism research and capacity-building and a bilateral investment document were also exchanged, with the two countries’ foreign ministers exchanging the documents.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report