Ambassador of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Dr Md Nazrul Islam has spoken about the special relationship between his country and the Kingdom of Bahrain and the expatriate community living and working here.
His message marks the Independence and National Day of Bangladesh and celebrates the special occasion.
“I would first like to humbly recall and pay my deepest tribute to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman whose decades-long struggle and sacrifice for emancipation culminated in the historic March 7 speech in 1971 that ultimately led the nation on March 26, 1971, to the nine-month-long Liberation War and the ultimate sacrifice of three million martyrs for the birth of Bangladesh.
“On the auspicious occasion of our Independence Day, I, on behalf of the government and the people of Bangladesh, would like to convey my greetings to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and to the friendly people of Bahrain as both nations enjoy excellent relations based on identical values, shared perceptions and common traditions.
“I would also like to express my heartfelt greetings to all the Bangladeshi expatriates living in Bahrain.
“Soon after the independence of both brotherly nations in 1971, the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and the Kingdom of Bahrain have maintained excellent diplomatic ties since their establishment in 1974. “The Kingdom of Bahrain became the first among the GCC countries to formally recognise Bangladesh on June 6, 1974, shortly after the late Amir of Bahrain His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa met our Father of the Nation during the second OIC Summit which was held in Lahore between February 22 to 24, 1974.
“Bangladesh opened its resident diplomatic mission in Manama in 1983 and since then, both sides have been working towards further strengthening the bond of friendship.
“Now, the Bangladesh Embassy is planning to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations in 2024 in a befitting manner to commemorate this major milestone.
“The current Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina visited Bahrain in 1999 to attend the funeral ceremony of the late Amir of Bahrain.
“More recently, the current Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, Dr A K Abdul Momen, MP visited Bahrain for the 18th IISS Manama Dialogue from November 17 to 19, 2022, owing to his Bahraini counterpart’s personal invitation earlier last year.
“During his short stay in Bahrain, he met the Foreign Minister of Bahrain, Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, and they discussed the mutual exchange of land for the construction of chancery buildings, strengthening co-operation in trade, investment, economy, culture, and tourism-related affairs, easing the process of obtaining Bahraini visas for Bangladeshi nationals, particularly for family members, and facilitating the return of stranded Bangladeshi expatriates due to the pandemic.
“Dr Momen also invited Dr Al Zayani to visit Dhaka later this year, and he gladly accepted his invitation in addition to expressing his keen desire to positively look into the discussed issues.
“Moreover, the long-awaited first round of the Foreign Office Consultation between Bangladesh and Bahrain was held in Manama on November 20, 2022.
“Today, under the dynamic leadership of the daughter of the Father of the Nation, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh is one of the five fastest growing economies in the world.
“We are 41st in terms of GDP, we have reduced the poverty rate from 41pc to 20.5pc in the last decade.
“Our per capita income has tripled to $2,824 in just a decade. As per a recent report by Boston Consulting Group, Bangladesh is expected to emerge as a $1 trillion economy by 2040.
“We are very thankful to the government of Bahrain for their very effective measures to contain the coronavirus, which also acclaimed international praise.
“Despite this challenge of pandemic situation, we are seeing revival of Bahrain economy, due to the visionary leadership of Bahrain, for taking prudent economic revival package of implementing different mega-projects with $30 billion.
“I am sure these mega-projects will revive the Bahrain economy very quickly.
“Since a significant number of Bangladeshi workers are contributing to both economies of Bahrain and Bangladesh, we are hopeful that Bangladesh will be able to provide quality, skilled and semi-skilled workforce in these mega-projects, which would be win-win for both nations.”
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