Home Affairs Adviser Lieutenant General (Retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, has urged the Saudi Ambassador Issa bin Youssef Al-Duhailan to recruit more manpower from Bangladesh.
This request was made during a courtesy meeting with the outgoing Saudi ambassador at the Ministry of Home Affairs in Bangladesh Secretariat on Wednesday morning.
According to the Ministry's Director (Public Relations) Faisal Hasan, the meeting discussed various issues of mutual interest, including the issuance and re-issuance of passports for 69,000 Bangladeshi nationals residing in Saudi Arabia without valid passports.
Welcoming the ambassador at the beginning of the meeting, the adviser said that Saudi Arabia is one of the largest partners in Bangladesh's development.
Saudi Arabia employs the highest number of Bangladeshis in a single country, with 3.2 million Bangladeshis currently working across various sectors in the kingdom.
The adviser sought the ambassador's cooperation to increase this number to 4 million.
The ambassador affirmed that Saudi Arabia's full cooperation for Bangladesh's development will continue.
He highlighted that besides manpower export, there is significant cooperation between the two countries in business, trade, investment, tourism, and culture.
He also mentioned that during the Covid-19 pandemic, while flights from several countries, including the UAE and Pakistan, were suspended, flights between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia remained operational.
The ambassador explained that, according to the royal Saudi government's policy, having a valid passport is essential for living, working, and enjoying legal rights in the country.
He further mentioned that since the independence of Bangladesh, many Bangladeshi nationals have entered Saudi Arabia with either Bangladeshi passports or travel documents.
However, currently, there are approximately 69,000 individuals without valid passports.
He said that the Saudi authorities have been requesting the Bangladesh government to issue or renew passports for these individuals through various levels of government discussions.
The adviser noted that a protocol had been signed between the two countries regarding this matter, and the Bangladesh government would provide full cooperation.
