Staff Reporter:
Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus yesterday urged Malaysia to issue multiple-entry visas for Bangladeshi workers employed in the country to facilitate their return home when required.
He raised the issue when Malaysian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Mohd Shuhada Othman called on him at the State Guest House Jamuna in Dhaka.
The chief adviser also urged the High Commissioner to facilitate the entry of 18,000 Bangladeshi workers who missed the deadline to join their work in the Southeast Asian country in May last year.
The Malaysian envoy said a joint technical committee featuring the officials of Malaysia and Bang-ladesh held a meeting in this regard in Kuala Lumpur on December 31, and a similar meeting was planned on Tuesday.
Recalling his meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Dhaka in October, the chief adviser hoped that Malaysia would expedite the process so that the next batch of Bangladeshi workers can plan for migrating to the country for work.
He congratulated Malaysia for taking over as the chair of ASEAN from 1 January 2025 and also sought the country’s support for Bangladesh’s bid to become a Sectoral Dialogue Partner of ASEAN and in turn become a full member.
Prof Yunus also conveyed to the high commissioner that Bangladesh seeks support from ASEAN in the upcoming International Conference on the Rohingya Crisis to be convened by the UN in 2025 in line with the UNGA Resolution 79/182.
He urged the new Malaysian high commissioner, who was appointed in December 2024, to work on bringing more Malaysian investment to Bangladesh and relocating Malaysian factories to Bang-ladesh to take the benefit of Bangladesh’s youth forces.
“I hope that during your stay in Bangladesh, the relationship between Bangladesh and Malaysia will reach a new level of closeness on economic and business levels,” said Prof Yunus.
The chief adviser said Bangladesh looks forward to a convenient date from the Malaysian side to attend the 4th Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) in Kuala Lumpur.
He added that Bangladesh is also prepared to hold Foreign Minister level ‘5th Joint Commission’ meeting in Dhaka, preferably by mid-2025.
Lamiya Morshed, senior secretary to SDG affairs, was also present on the occasion.
