Passing of King Abdullah
We join with the rest of the world in mourning the sad demise of King Abdullah. We shall remember him for his efforts to further strengthen the long fraternal relations between our two countries.
The late King will also be remembered for ushering in reforms in various sectors, his advocating the cause of religious tolerance, and for women's rights, albeit in a limited way, in spite of strong opposition from religious conservatives from within. He is credited with opening the first mixed-gender university in 2009 as part of his vision to offer equal educational opportunities to all the Kingdom's citizens.
King Abdullah's economic and fiscal policies saw the Kingdom grow to be the largest economy in the Middle East. The late king played a key role in Opec and increased production capacity of the Kingdom by about a third to about 12.5 million barrels a day. King Abdullah will perhaps be best remembered for his deft handling of the country's finances during the global recession by spending some $400 billion in stimulus spending to counter the effects on the Saudi economy whilst more advanced economies reeled and crashed.
Saudi Arabia's international profile was much lifted by the proactive role the King played during his time both in regional and worlds affairs. The late King will be remembered for his staunch stand on the fight against terrorism and the country's lead role in the coalition against the Islamic State.
We offer his successor King Salman our felicitations and hope that the policies of the late King would be continued and that the ties between Bangladesh and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will continue to advance even further.
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