ZCZC
BSS–48
MOMEN-KUWAIT-EMIR
Momen meets new Kuwait Emir, conveys PM’s messages
DHAKA, Oct 5, 2020 (BSS) – Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Moment today met new Kuwait Emir Sheikh Nawaf al Ahmad al Sabah in Kuwait City and conveyed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s congratulatory message to the new ruler of the oil-rich nation for his assumption of new office.
On behalf of Sheikh Hasina, the foreign minister also expressed condolence of Bangladesh Prime Minister, the government and people at the demise of Kuwait’s last Emir Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al Sabah, a foreign ministry press release said here.
Dr Momen, who is visiting Kuwait as a special envoy of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, apprised Sheikh Nawaf that Bangladesh has observed one-day national mourning in respect to the memory of Kuwait’s former Emir, who breathed his last on September 29 at the age of 91.
The foreign minister mentioned that the late Emir Sheikh Sabah was always very generous about expatriate Bangladeshi workers in Kuwait.
In 1974, Dr Momen recalled that Sheikh Sabah, the then Kuwait foreign minister visited Bangladesh and brought Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to the OIC summit.
Terming it as an epoch-making initiative regarding Bangladesh-Kuwait ties, Momen said after that many Muslim countries had recognized sovereign and independent Bangladesh.
On behalf of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the foreign minister also invited Kuwait new Emir Sheikh Nawaf to visit Bangladesh.
He also expressed Bangladesh’s gratitude to the Kuwait government for extending support for the wellbeing of Bangladeshi expatriates there amid the pandemic.
Dr Momen hoped that the existing excellent friendly relations between Bangladesh and Kuwait would further be strengthened in the days to come.
The foreign minister also handed over two letters of President Md Abdul Hamid to the new Kuwait Emir where Bangladesh president expressed his deep condolence at death of former Kuwaiti Emir and also congratulated the new Emir for his sworn in.
Meeting with Kuwait Foreign Minister
Later, Bangladesh foreign minister held a meeting with his Kuwait counterpart Dr. Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
During the meeting, Dr Momen urged the Kuwait authority to resume flights between Bangladesh and Kuwait for facilitating return of expatriate Bangladeshis, who have been stuck in Bangladesh since the outbreak of pandemic, to their workplaces in Kuwait.
The Kuwait foreign minister said that they would make a decision regarding flight resumption with Dhaka by holding a meeting after two days.
Dr Momen urged Kuwait to set up oil refinery establishment in Bangladesh while his Kuwaiti counterpart expressed keen interest to invest here in this regard.
Bangladesh foreign minister also urged Kuwait to recruit physicians, nurses and IT professionals from Bangladesh and involved Bangladeshi expatriate workers at the Kuwait’s agriculture sector.
He also urged Kuwait to invest economic zones and high-tech parks in Bangladesh and import medicine and PPEs from Bangladeshi pharmaceuticals manufacturers.
The Kuwait foreign minister lauded skill of Bangladeshi expatriate human resources as well as reiterated Kuwait’s support on repatriation of forcefully displaced Rohingyas from Bangladesh to their land of origin Myanmar.
The foreign minister is scheduled to return here tomorrow
BSS/PR/TA/KU/2120 HRS