On the auspicious occasion of the 42nd anniversary of our Independence and National Day, I wish to extend my sincere greetings and warm felicitations to the brotherly people and the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to our all friends and well-wishers as well as to our fellow countrymen living in the spiritual home of the Muslim communities.
On this great day, we recall with profound respect Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Father of the Nation, whose unprecedented charismatic leadership and long struggle helped us in achieving our long cherished independence. We pay homage to the memories of those martyrs of the War of Liberation, whose supreme sacrifice made us free as a nation. We also recall with gratitude the contribution made by our valiant freedom fighters in the War of Liberation.
Since our independence, Bangladesh has made continued efforts to consolidate democracy, alleviate poverty, and attain economic development and better life for our people.
We have also worked closely with our friends in the international community to promote peace and stability across the globe. The present government of Bangladesh, under the dynamic leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has been relentlessly striving toward strengthening democracy, establishing rule of law, ensuring good governance and securing the fundamentals for an unimpeded economic growth. The government is committed to fulfilling its election manifesto of “Vision 2021” of transforming Bangladesh to a middle-income country and a “Digital Bangladesh” by 2021 driven by knowledge and IT based development. We are moving forward in pursuit of achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Over the years, we have strengthened our image as a responsible and contributing member of the committee of nations in various areas of international cooperation including the UN peacekeeping operations.
As one of the largest Muslim countries, Bangladesh enjoys special brotherly relations with Saudi Arabia based on common Islamic values, traditions, faith, culture and mutual respect. We acknowledge the fact gratefully that our Saudi brothers and sisters have always extended their hands of cooperation to Bangladesh particularly in the hours of crises.
We are also thankful for the generous hosting of a significant number of Bangladeshi expatriates, who have been playing very important and active role to the socio-economic development of the two brotherly countries. Here, I would like to express my deep appreciation to the government of Saudi Arabia for providing highly commendable support, facilities and services to our Haj and Umrah pilgrims. We do believe that the existing brotherly relations between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia would continue to grow in leaps and bounds in the days ahead for the benefit of two peoples.
On this memorable day, I also take this opportunity to extend our sincere thanks to all Saudi leaders, officials, business persons for their continuous and valuable support to our efforts at promoting and strengthening the ties between the brotherly countries. I also acknowledge the priceless support extended by our expatriates in discharging our responsibilities smoothly.
I wish all particularly our expatriates continued peace, prosperity and happiness.
Md. Nazmul Islam
Consul general of Bangladesh
