Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday said that Saudi Arabia would allow 100% visa clearances for Bangladeshi pilgrims to perform hajj.
"In terms of Hajj pilgrims, we have discussed the matter so that visas can be issued to lessen harassment of the Hajj pilgrims," he told reporters after holding a bilateral meeting with his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan al Saud at a city hotel.
After the bilateral meeting, the two countries held the first ever high-level political consultation.
Later, Momen saw off the Saudi foreign minister at Hazrat Shahjalal International airport at noon.
Momen said that Dhaka showed keen interest to be part of Saudi Arabia's green initiatives as the desert country is planning to plant 50 billion saplings all over the Middle East.
"We want to provide saplings and take responsibility for maintenance and growth of those plants," he said, adding that, out of the saplings, 10 billion are to be planted in Saudi Arabia and 40 billion in other Middle East countries.
Referring to the Saudi companies' establishment in Bangladesh's economic zones, Momen said, 20 Saudi companies had already shown interest to invest.
"We are working on it and hopefully those Saudi investments will be materialized soon," he said, adding that Dhaka was ready to provide all facilities to the Saudi companies.
The Bangladeshi foreign minister said that they also discussed food security and agreed to work together in this regard.
Saudi Arabia, he said, was arranging “contract farming” with many countries and Dhaka would like to be its partner in this sector.
"We also discussed our solid cooperation as we work together in both bilateral and multilateral areas," Momen said.
During the meeting, Bangladesh foreign minister thanked Saudi Arabia for providing free Covid-19 vaccines to all expatriate Bangladeshi nationals residing there as well as donating jabs to Bangladesh.