JEDDAH, 17 October 2006 — Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia yesterday urged her country’s expatriate community to increase the flow of remittance to ensure rapid development.
Speaking at a reception held in her honor here, Khaleda reminded the community members that they were all unofficial ambassadors of their country.
“You must strictly abide by the law of the land and conduct yourselves in such a manner that you continue to bring honor and dignity to your country,” she said.
“Your work in the Kingdom has been contributing to its development and your remittances have been benefiting your home country’s development,” she added.
Speaking about the five-year rule of her government Khaleda said, “We’ve done an excellent job during the past five years and our performance is reflected in the rapid economic strides the country has made,” she said.
Bangladesh Ambassador retired Maj. Gen. S.M. Eqramul Haque and community leaders — Abdul Ghani, Shahidul Islam, Shahidul Islam Nannu and Ashraful Alam in their remarks referred to issues facing the expatriate Bangladeshis. The issuance of ID cards for overseas Bangladeshis and the grant of voting rights to them were mentioned as some of the major issues.
The prime minister’s son Tariq Rahman, who was introduced to the community, also spoke at the event assuring overseas Bangladeshis that he would make efforts to address their problems and resolve them.
Khaleda has requested the Kingdom to continue oil exports to her country on credit for maintaining uninterrupted development. She made the request to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah during their meeting at his palace in Makkah on Sunday, according to diplomatic sources.
“An abnormal increase in oil prices on the world market was adversely affecting Bangladesh’s efforts toward development,” said Khaleda.
The Kingdom has always stood beside Bangladesh as a brotherly Muslim country during its urgent need, she said and hoped that both countries would take steps to further intensify and deepen their existing friendly relations.
Accompanying Khaleda, who is on a visit as a guest of King Abdullah, are her family members, former State Minister Mir Nasir Hossan, Mosaddek Ali, MP, and Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Kamal Uddin Siddiqui. She is due to have a separate meeting with Crown Prince Sultan today.
She met with heads of the Islamic Development Bank and the Organization of the Islamic Conference earlier in the day.
Umrah and a visit to the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah are also on her agenda. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bangladesh rose to $692 million in 2005, a sizable chunk of it in the manufacturing sector, highlighting the country’s improved investment climate, according to a UN report. The figure was 50 percent higher than in 2004, the UN World Investment Report 2006 has said. Bangladesh ranks fourth among the least developed countries in attracting FDI.
The inflow of foreign investment in Bangladesh marked an upturn since 2003 when the figure was $350 million, while it rose to $460 in 2004.
