Prime Minister Tarique Rahman used his first foreign visit since taking office to push for the reopening of Malaysia’s labor market, accelerate negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement, and secure support for Bangladesh’s bid to join the world’s largest trade bloc, signaling a broader shift toward economic diplomacy under the new government.
The priorities emerged from high-level talks between PM Tarique and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, where the two countries agreed to deepen cooperation in trade, investment, labour migration, digital technologies, and the halal economy while reaffirming support for the safe repatriation of Rohingya refugees.
At a joint press conference following bilateral talks, the prime minister said he had placed particular emphasis on recruiting more Bangladeshi workers and reopening Malaysia’s labor market at the earliest opportunity.
“I have requested Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to recruit more Bangladeshi workers and open the labour market as soon as possible,” he said.
The prime minister also raised the issue of regularizing undocumented Bangladeshi workers and facilitating the return of detained nationals.
Both sides agreed that future labour recruitment should be transparent, fair and cost-effective, reducing the role of intermediaries that have long been blamed for inflating migration costs and exposing workers to exploitation.
The labour issue remains one of the most important elements of Bangladesh-Malaysia relations, with hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshis working in the Southeast Asian country and remittances continuing to play a critical role in Bangladesh’s economy.
Beyond labour migration, the visit produced significant progress on economic integration.
The two countries agreed to move forward with negotiations on a Bangladesh-Malaysia Free Trade Agreement (FTA), with both governments expressing optimism about concluding a comprehensive deal by 2027.
The joint statement issued after the talks noted that both leaders welcomed progress in the negotiations and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral trade and investment ties.
Malaysia is currently one of Bangladesh’s important trading partners in Southeast Asia, and officials believe an FTA could significantly boost exports, investment flows and business cooperation.
In a major diplomatic gain for Dhaka, Malaysia also expressed support for Bangladesh’s aspiration to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s largest free trade arrangement comprising 15 Asia-Pacific economies.
PM Tarique said Bangladesh formally reiterated its interest in becoming a Sectoral Dialogue Partner of Asean and joining RCEP during the discussions.
Analysts view RCEP membership as increasingly important for Bangladesh as the country prepares for post-LDC graduation and seeks greater access to regional markets.
The talks also focused heavily on future-oriented sectors, including artificial intelligence, semiconductors, digital governance, fintech and cybersecurity.
According to the joint statement, the two countries agreed to strengthen cooperation in emerging technologies and explore opportunities to combine Malaysia’s expertise in semiconductor packaging and testing with Bangladesh’s growing information technology and engineering sectors.
Bangladesh also proposed joint skills-development initiatives to train engineering graduates for high-value industries.
The leaders further agreed to expand cooperation in higher education through university partnerships, joint research programs and technical training initiatives.
Nearly 11,000 Bangladeshi students are currently studying in Malaysia.
Another major area of discussion was the global halal economy.
The two countries agreed to leverage Malaysia’s experience in halal certification, regulatory frameworks, research and institutional capacity building to help Bangladesh develop its halal industry and access a rapidly growing global market.
On regional issues, PM Tarique thanked Malaysia for its continued support for the Rohingya refugees and sought stronger international efforts to ensure their safe, dignified and sustainable return to Myanmar.
The two sides also agreed to strengthen cooperation on counterterrorism, energy, tourism, defence and investment.
During the visit, a memorandum of understanding on cultural cooperation was signed, while additional instruments were exchanged on investment promotion and counterterrorism cooperation.
Describing the visit as highly productive, Prime Minister’s Office spokesperson Mahdi Amin said the understandings reached during the brief but intensive visit would create “new multidimensional opportunities” for the two countries.
The Kuala Lumpur visit, lasting less than a day, marked the first leg of PM Tarique’s inaugural foreign tour as prime minister.
He departed for China shortly afterward, where economic cooperation, investment and regional connectivity are expected to dominate the next phase of his diplomatic outreach.