Saudi Crown Prince to visit Bangladesh in 2023

Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz has accepted the invitation to visit Bangladesh at a convenient time in 2023.

This would be a landmark event in the history of bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia leading to the consolidation of ties especially in trade and commerce, investment and economic cooperation.

Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Essa Yussef Essa Al Duhailan revealed this, while paying a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Ganabhaban on Saturday.

Prime Minister’s Deputy Press Secretary Hasan Jahid Tusher briefed reporters after the meeting.

In the meeting, the Saudi envoy handed over an acceptance letter from the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia to the Prime Minister as the Crown Prince has given consent to the proposed visit to Bangladesh in response to the invitation made by the Bangladesh Prime Minister on August 30 this year.

The envoy stated that it would be the first ever visit of any Saudi Crown Prince to Bangladesh after 1985 when the then Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz visited Dhaka .“So, this visit will be very significant for both the countries and the date and schedule of the visit will be fixed through diplomatic channels,” Essa Yussef was quoted as saying.

Now the foreign ministries of both the countries will remain seized in working out the modalities of the visit.

A good number of bilateral instruments – MoUs and agreements—will be signed during the visit of the Saudi Crown Prince, which would strengthen the bilateral ties between the two countries significantly, the envoy hoped.

Describing the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia as special, Sheikh Hasina said this bilateral engagement would be further strengthened and expanded to new areas of collaboration with the visit of the Saudi Crown Prince.

In reply, the envoy said that Saudi Arabia enjoys a special place in the hearts of Bangladeshi people. “Our relations are growing from higher to higher over time,” he said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called for more Saudi investment in different sectors of Bangladesh, including establishing an oil refinery in Bangladesh, investment in agro-processing and food-processing and halal food industries.

She stated that Bangladesh is ready to allocate special land in Bangladesh for Saudi entrepreneurs, especially in the Mirsarai special economic zone and also an exclusive economic zone in the country’s southern region.

She further added that the purchasing power of Bangladeshi people has gone up. If Saudi Arabia makes investments here, it will get a good return, she said assuring that Saudi investment will receive all-out support from the Bangladesh government.