Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Malaysia: Dynamic Bilateral Ties

The visit was clearly a successful diplomatic effort as it marked the inking of four deals that included signing of Memorandums of Understanding in the field of tourism, abolition of visa requirements, cultural exchanges, and the most important of all, employment of workers.

Warm Reception given to PM

A red carpet was rolled out as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived here on a three-day official visit to Malaysia aiming to further deepen bilateral ties.

Haji Ismail Haji Abdul Muttalib, Malaysian deputy minister of human resources; and Bangladesh envoy to Malaysia AKM Atiqur Rahman received the PM at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. She was given a guard of honour by the Malaysian Armed Forces at the airport.

Later, a ceremonial motorcade took the PM to Hotel Grand Hyatt in Kuala Lumpur where she will be staying during the visit.

Four Deals signed
The deals are: an agreement on partial abolition of visa requirement, a MoU on cooperation in the field of tourism, one protocol amending the MoU of 2012 between Bangladesh and Malaysia on employment of workers and another MoU on cooperation in the field of culture, art and heritage.

Shortly after the signing, a joint statement was issued saying “the deals would bring the two countries closer in each other's benefit.”

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina witnessed the signing ceremony at Perdana Putra in Putrajaya.

Breakthrough in Malaysian Labor Market
According to one of the Mou’s, as many as 12,000 workers would get the chance to go the country by early next year, paving the way for sending workers to Sarawak province to work in the plantation sector.

Briefing newsmen about the outcomes of her tour, the premier said “due to the failure of the 2001-2007 BNP-Jamaat government, about 2.7 lakh workers had become illegal in Malaysia. As a result, the Malaysian government had stopped hiring people from Bangladesh.”

After the AL-led government came to power in 2009, it started to work on the matter. So far, the AL government has been able to send 7,000 workers to that country,
Free Trade Agreement
Bangladesh and Malaysia also agreed to boost bilateral trade, cut trade gap and start negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Kuala Lumpur assured Dhaka of extending support to it for becoming Asean's dialogue partner and hosting the next meeting of Bangladesh-Malaysia Joint Commission next year. The last meeting of the joint commission was held in Dhaka in 2005.

The assurance came at a bilateral meeting between the two countries at the Malaysian prime minister's office at Perdana Square in Putrajaya. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Malaysian counterpart Najib Abdul Razak led their respective countries at the meeting. Ministers and high government officials of both the countries were present.
Malaysian Car Factory to start operation in Bangladesh

Former Malaysian Prime Minister and Chairman of Malaysian car manufacturer Proton Holdings Berhad Dr Mahathir Mohamad Proton will open its plant in Bangladesh soon, creating employment opportunities for many Bangladeshis.

Dr Mahathir said this at a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her hotel suite at Grand Hyatt in the evening.

After the meeting, PM's Press Secretary AKM Shameem Chowdhuri said Dr Mahathir highly praised Bangladesh's progress in all sectors under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s dynamic leadership.

Sheikh Hasina highlighted the achievements of Bangladesh in various sectors and invited Mahthir for visiting Bangladesh at his convenient time

Malaysia interested to build flats for low income people
Malaysia has shown keen interest in building low-cost flats under housing projects at Kamrangirchar in the capital to provide flats to the poor at an affordable cost.

Special Envoy of the Malaysian PM on Southeast Asian Affairs, Seri Samy Vellu, showed the interest as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina requested him for construction of such flats for low-income people of Bangladesh.