Manpower, energy, Rohingya repatriation to get top priority during Brunei Sultan’s Dhaka visit

The issues like export of manpower, cooperation in energy, closed communication between Dhaka and Bandar Seri Begawan and rehabilitation of Rohingyas in the Rakhine state of Myanmar are likely to get top priority during the three-day visit of Brunei King Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah to Bangladesh to begin on October 14, sources said.

Hassanal Bolkiah will visit Bangladesh at the invitation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a time when the global world is going through a critical period against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war that began in February.

He said energy cooperation and manpower export to the Southeast Asian country will be discussed in detail between the two countries.

Bangladesh sent a total of 75,753 workers to Brunei during 1992-2021 with export of 8,587 Bangladeshi workers to Southeast Asia, the highest number in a single year, according to the data of the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET).

As the energy price goes up due to the Russia-Ukraine war, Dhaka is looking for a new source to get energy products that Brunei can offer to Bangladesh, said the source.

Russia offers energy products to Bangladesh at competitive prices, but the sanctions of the US, EU and Canada on Russian petroleum products stand in the way of procuring Russian oil……..

In the meantime, Rosneft Oil Company, a Russian state-owned company, offered to sell finished oil to Bangladesh as the country cannot refine Moscow's crude oil. 'It would have been better to keep fuel prices up.

On 5 August, the Energy and Mineral Resources Division hiked diesel and kerosene prices by 42.5 percent as well as petrol and octane prices by 51 percent.

However, the prices were re-adjusted on August 29 at the consumer level in response to the lowering of import duty from 10 percent to 5 percent and the withdrawal of all advance taxes on diesel by the National Board of Revenue.

Meanwhile, Brunei King Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah's visit to Bangladesh in mid-October 2022 is aimed to usher in a new era in the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Brunei, said Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh, Ambassador Masud bin Momen during a visit to the Bangladesh High Commission in the capital recently.

Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina visited Brunei at the invitation of Brunei King Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah during April 21-23, 2019

During the visit, Dhaka and Bandar Seri Begawan signed seven instruments to step up cooperation in the fields of agriculture, fisheries, livestock, culture, sports and LNG supply.

The deals were signed after an official bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah at the latter’s official residence here last year.

At the invitation of Brunei's Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina along with eight of her cabinet ministers and a delegation of business leaders visited Brunei Darussalam during April 21-23, 2019.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina used her visit with the explicit goal of exploring new opportunities and promoting economic partnership between Brunei and Bangladesh.

Notably, her visit coincided with the 35th anniversary of the founding of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

On April 22, 2019, Bangladesh and Brunei signed six important memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and one exchange of notes.

The MoUs inked reflect mutual trust. Both countries should move quickly to properly implement the MoUs to strengthen cooperation in the fields of agriculture, fisheries, livestock, culture and sports, and supply of LNG.

The supply of LNG from Brunei is considered important as Bangladesh would need liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Brunei for three reasons.

First, the demand for gas is rising rapidly, while domestic gas supply is declining; second, to support speedy economic growth and, third, to lessen dependency on Oman and Qatar for LNG supply.

At the bilateral meeting, the Rohingya issue was also discussed. Sultan Bolkiah emphasised a just and permanent solution to the crisis.

Notably, the Brunei government provided much-needed financial and medical assistance to Rohingya refugees temporarily sheltered in camps in Cox's Bazar.

Meanwhile, High Commissioner of Brunei Darussalam Haris bin Haji Othman recently said that Bangladesh’s economy has shown deep resilience in recent years and posted the highest growth in South Asia, defying the impact of Covid-19.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh has become a middle-income country last year as the nation celebrated its 50 years of independence, the high commissioner said

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh will soon become an upper-middle-income country, as the government has been implementing massive development projects in light of the “Vision 2021” and “Vision 2041”.

Bangladesh’s economy exceeded the $1.00 trillion milestones in January 2022. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made this projection based on purchasing power parity (PPP).

IMF projections predict Bangladesh’s real GDP will grow by 6.5 percent in 2022, while the UN estimates a 5.8 percent growth in the same year.

In terms of purchasing power parity, Bangladesh’s economy is currently valued at $1,061.571 billion, according to the IMF.

Bangladesh is currently the 37th largest economy in the world with an expectation to be the 25th largest economy by 2035.

The country is also set to graduate from its LDC (Least Developed Country) status by 2024.

This country is flourishing in its economic sectors and proving itself to be worthy of being called “The Asian Economic Tiger”.

Bangladesh now has the 31st highest GDP worldwide in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), at $751 billion.

The country is poised to move up to the 30th position by 2023, by which the GDP should increase by 50 percent to $1,159 billion.

The government’s proper measures to save people’s lives and livelihoods have been praised globally amid the coronavirus pandemic, he said.

The steps taken by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to save people’s lives were appreciated by the World Economic Forum, World Health Organization and even ‘famous’ Forbes magazine, he said.

Bangladesh stands on the top in tackling the economic risks among the other South Asian countries, he said, adding that “Bangladesh’s capacity is much better than India, Pakistan and China which was projected in the Economist.”

The Prime Minister has taken different appropriate initiatives considering the economic shockwave that has jolted the whole world due to the coronavirus outbreak, he said.

Expressing his personal opinion, he said Bangladesh has become a new Asian tiger under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed, the daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

He highly praised Bangladesh’s impressive success on all socioeconomic fronts under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

”Bangladesh is now a different country and it is on the rise under the Prime Minister’s leadership,” the managing director of the insurance company said.

Bangladesh is one of the top growing economies in the present world, and the GDP growth may surpass over 8.00 percent as the dream Padma Bridge was opened on June 25, 2022, and the Metro Rail project is expected to be completed by next year

He, however, said that the present government has major challenges like ensuring green-and labour-intensive growth, introducing a job-oriented education system and creating a pool of skilled human resources.

He expects that the government will leave no stone unturned in exploring new labour markets abroad against the backdrop of slowing manpower export to overseas countries.

He extolled the steady economic growth of Bangladesh, empowerment of women, especially in the readymade garment (RMG) sector, increased enrollment of girls’ education, success in tackling disaster management and improvement in primary health and sanitation.

Bangladesh's economy has been growing at 6.00-8.00 percent during the last 15-20 years despite a slowdown in the global economy.

He praised the economic growth of Bangladesh, particularly in the readymade garment (RMG) sector.

He said Bangladesh can replicate the success of RMG and pharmaceuticals in other sectors of the economy.

On the investment climate in Bangladesh, he said “I believe that the investment climate needs improvement. It is also important to emphasize the fact that Bangladeshi workers are very hard working and their labor force is cheap. All these factors create a positive climate for the foreign investment in Bangladesh.”

Terming Bangladeshis as hard-working and sincere, High Commissioner of Brunei Darussalam in Dhaka Haris bin Haji Othman has recalled the role of expats in developing a modern country in Southeast Asia.

High Commissioner of Brunei Darussalam in Dhaka Haris bin Haji Othman was talking to the media at his office recently.

Brunei is a Southeast Asian country consisting of two unconnected parts with a total area of 5,765 square kilometres (2,226 sq mi) on the island of Borneo. It has 161 kilometres (100 mi) of coastline next to the South China Sea, and it shares a 381 km (237 mi) border with Malaysia.

Currently, about 20,000 Bangladeshi expatriates are employed in Brunei. They are working in the petroleum and gas, education, health and construction sectors.

The migrant workers are contributing to the economic development of Brunei and also to the Bangladesh economy by remitting foreign currency.

With an estimated population of 439,338 and a gross domestic product (GDP) of $15.4 billion, Brunei is one of the smallest states in Asia. Its GDP per capita income is about $31,501.50.

Despite huge potential, bilateral trade is still insignificant. The latest figures show that Bangladesh exported products worth $1.11 million to Brunei and imported products worth $0.51 million in FY 2017-18.

Bangladeshi exports to Brunei included ready-made garments, jute and jute products, leather and leather products, while imports from Brunei include petroleum products and minerals.