Malaysia wants to elevate diplomatic ties with Bangladesh

Malaysia wants the bilateral relationship with Bangladesh to be elevated to a strategic level as the two countries celebrate the golden jubilee of diplomatic ties this year.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah stressed the matter during a telephone call with Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen today.

Both the ministers also stressed the importance of accelerating the process for an early conclusion of the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) for facilitating more trade and commerce between the two countries.

Momen congratulated his Malaysian counterpart on the auspicious occasion of the golden jubilee of diplomatic ties and expressed satisfaction at the current level of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Both the foreign ministers agreed to celebrate the historic occasion in a befitting manner.

Momen appreciated the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding opening up the Malaysian labour market for Bangladeshi workers in all sectors of the economy.

He expressed Bangladesh government's readiness to contribute to the economic growth and activities in Malaysia by sending more workforce through safe and regular migration channel.

Momen requested the Malaysian foreign minister to consider recruiting IT-trained manpower from Bangladesh.

Saifuddin Abdullah stressed on expanding cooperation in the arena of digital economy by forging closer cooperation between the ICT authorities of the two countries.

Appreciating the supportive role of Malaysia in all fora vis-à-vis the Rohingya crisis, Momen requested his Malaysian counterpart's continued support for starting the repatriation of the Rohingyas from Bangladesh to their motherland Myanmar on an expeditious basis.

Momen also thanked Malaysia for donating more than half-a-million doses of Covid-19 vaccines.

Momen sought Malaysian support in favour of Bangladeshi candidacy at various international and global fora. He also requested Malaysian support for Bangladesh's candidacy for the Asean Sectoral Dialogue Partnership.

The two foreign ministers agreed to work for exchanging more high-level visits for infusing the bilateral relations with further dynamism and newer directions.

As Momen invited Saifuddin for a visit to Bangladesh on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the diplomatic ties, the latter agreed to visit Bangladesh at a time of mutual convenience.