Staff Reporter:
Dhaka and Abu Dhabi have reaffirmed their commitment to elevating bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic and economic partnership, with renewed focus on trade, investment, labor mobility and high-level engagements.
The commitment was made when United Arab Emirates Ambassador to Bangladesh Abdulla Ali AlHmoudi paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Dr. Khalilur Rahman at the Ministry of Foreign Af-fairs in Dhaka yesterday, said a press release.
During the meeting, both sides underscored the longstanding friendship and growing strategic partner-ship between Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates.
The Foreign Minister conveyed appreciation for the greetings from the UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and reiterated Bangladesh’s commitment, under the “Bangladesh First” policy, to ad-vancing bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic and economic partnership.
The discussions focused on expediting negotiations on the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partner-ship Agreement (CEPA) and enhancing cooperation in trade, energy, infrastructure and public-private partnership (PPP) projects.
The Foreign Minister thanked the UAE government for hosting around 1.2 million Bangladeshi expatri-ates and requested the reopening of labour visas, alongside facilitating greater mobility, including busi-ness and transit visas.
Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to deepening cooperation across sectors and strengthening peo-ple-to-people contacts for mutual benefit.
Earlier, the UAE Ambassador also paid a courtesy call on State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam.
The State Minister stressed the importance of exchanging high-level visits and holding regular meetings of existing bilateral mechanisms to identify new opportunities and advance cooperation between the two friendly countries.
