Dhaka urges Malaysia to recruit more manpower

Thanking the Malaysian government for opening employment opportunities for Bangladeshi workers in all sectors, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Wednesday urged Malaysia to recruit more manpower from Bangladesh.

The minister also requested the Malaysian government to expedite the process of signing the FTA during a bilateral meeting with a Malaysian delegation headed by Malaysian Deputy Finance Minister Dato Indear Moha Shar Abdullah, at Manila in the Philippines as part of the Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Seeking increased Malaysian investments, the minister said that Bangladesh is keen to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Malaysia.

Expressing hope that the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on import of LNG from Malaysia would expand commercial and economic relations between the two countries, Kamal sought cooperation of the Malaysian government in this regard.

He said Malaysia is an important source for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bangladesh. FDI stock from Malaysia stood at $788 million till September 2022, mainly in the telecom sector. Bangladesh is an attractive destination for FDI in terms of financial and other benefits.

In the meeting, the Malaysian deputy finance minister assured Kamal of considering the issues like signing of FTA, LNG export to Bangladesh and recruiting more manpower after consultation with the concerned ministries and departments in Malaysia.

He also hoped that the brotherly relationship between the two countries would be further strengthened in the coming days.

Bangladesh exported goods worth $306 million to Malaysia in fiscal year 2020-2021 against the imports of $1.57 billion, according to official data.

Both the countries are also celebrating 50 years of their diplomatic relations.

Kamal also held a bilateral meeting with the Finance Minister of Bhutan.