Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’supcoming visit to the Kingdom of Brunei will open up new areas of cooperation in the economic development of both countries, said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Thursday. The foreign minister was briefing media about the prime minister’s 3-day official visit to Brunei at his ministry in the capital. “The existing relations between Bangladesh and Brunei will be strengthened further through PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to the country,” Dr Momen told journalists.
He said the visit will encourage Brunei to invest in Bangladesh and hire more trained Bangladeshi workers. During the visit, the two countries are likely to sign seven memoranda of understanding (MoU), six of which will be signed to strengthen cooperation in the areas of agriculture, arts and culture, youth and sports, fisheries, livestock, and energy sectors while another MoU is yet to be finalized, he added. The minister went on to say Bruneiwas keen to increase mutual cooperation with friendly states, ensuring food security, manpower development, infrastructure building, health-care, fuel and other sectors, to implement development programs under vision 2035'.Hence, the two countries may benefit greatly by establishing bilateral cooperation in different areas especially in fuel resources with the thehigh-income country Brunei, he added.
He also mentioned this visit will play a significant role in building strong relationships with Brunei and ASEAN members and getting effective support from them on different regional and international issues including the Rohingya crisis. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to leave Dhaka on Sunday at the invitation of Brunei’s Sultan HajiHassanal Bolkiah.“Led by the prime minister, I, ministers and state ministers of youth and sports, power, power, energy and mineral resources, fisheries and livestock, water resources, and cultural affairs are set to visit Brunei,” he said. Besides, high-ups of the ministries concerned will also be included in the entourage.
Apart from them, a delegation from the business community will also be with the prime minister’s visit to Brunei,Dr Momen said. He informed Crown Prince of Brunei Darussalam Al-MuhtadeeBillah will receive the Bangladesh PMat the airport. During her visit to Brunei, the prime minister will exchange greetings with the royal family of Brunei, along with a formal bilateral meeting with the Sultan.
She will also participate in the state dinner in her honor,he mentioned. Besides, the Prime Minister will speak as the chief guest at a seminar named ‘Trade and Investment’ organized by businessmen and the government of Brunei. She will also participate in a views-exchange meeting with expatriate Bangladeshis, he added. Diplomatic relations between the two countries have established after the liberation of Brunei in 1984, he added. The foreign minister said the friendly relations and mutual cooperation between the two countries has increased rapidly since the restoration of diplomatic missions in Brunei in 1997 in an initiative of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
