Nurul Islam Hasib
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is going to visit United Arab Emirates next week to attend the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and the Zayed Sustainability Prize giving ceremony. This will be her second visit to Emirates within two months and this time she will attend as an honorable guest at an award giving ceremony which is named after the late founding father of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
Officials at the foreign office believed that this would take the bilateral relations to a new height. Bangladesh seeks UAE investments in different sectors particularly energy and solar power. The Prime Minister during her November visit received the much-needed assurance of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan that the labour market for Bangladesh workers, which was closed several years ago, would be opened soon.
A senior official at the foreign ministry told Bangladesh Post that the prime minister would visit UAE on Jan 13 and 14. On Jan 13, she would attend the Sustainability Prize giving ceremony at Abu Dhabi. There will be a briefing for Bangladesh diplomats in the middle-east and West Asia region. The prime minister will give them instructions on the recent development of the region following the US-Iran row.
The Zayed Sustainability Prize, an evolution of the Zayed Future Energy Prize, is the UAE’s pioneering global award in sustainability and a tribute to the legacy of the late founding father of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Established in 2008, this annual award recognises and rewards the achievements of those who are driving impactful, innovative and inspiring sustainability solutions across five distinct categories: Health, Food, Energy, Water and Global High Schools.
At the 2008 World Future Energy Summit, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, announced the launch of the Zayed Future Energy Prize – a tribute to his father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and his sustainability legacy.
By recognising pioneering solutions and technologies that can change the world, the Zayed Sustainability Prize, has rewarded innovators and visionaries whose achievements have furthered the global proliferation of innovative, impactful and inspirational sustainability solutions. Over 318 million people have been directly or indirectly impacted by the sustainability solutions and school projects of the 76 recipients of the Prize winners since the first awards ceremony in 2009.
The senior official told Bangladesh Post that the visit of the Prime Minister would give a new dimension to the brotherly ties of the two countries. During the latest visit, she witnessed the signing of several MoU on economic cooperation. Business leaders discussed the current trends of trade and investment, success stories, operational problems and challenges of doing business, future growth prospects and prioritised cooperation areas.
She will also have bilateral meetings with the UAE leaders including with the Crown Prince. During the visit, she will also highlight Bangladesh’s unique platform for foreign investors while seeking more trade, investment and economic cooperation from UAE. She will invite them to invest in readymade garments, infrastructure building, constructions, communication, energy, IT, shipbuilding, tourism infrastructure, light engineering, industrial park and logistics hub in Bangladesh.