RIYADH: Saudi Vision 2030 enables Bangladesh to boost cooperation with Saudi Arabia in many areas, said Bangladesh Ambassador Golam Moshi on his country’s National Day on Sunday.

The envoy was speaking at the event to mark Bangladesh’s 46th independence anniversary.

Riyadh Gov. Prince Faisal bin Bandar was the guest of honor at the event attended by members of the diplomatic corps, senior government officials and prominent community members.

The envoy pointed out that Bangladesh’s Vision 2021 (about its emergence as a middle-income country) and the Vision 2041 (about its emergence as a developed country) allows the country to be considered as a lucrative destination to invest.

Moshi paid tributes to Bangladesh’s father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who led the liberation war in 1971.

“I also pay homage to the martyrs and freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for our independence,” he said.

The ambassador recalled that Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made an official visit to the Kingdom in June 2016. “That historic visit marks a milestone in the Saudi-Bangladesh relations,” he said.

Over last 46 years, he said, Bangladesh has achieved success in social and economic sectors. Bangladesh is now one of top troop-contributing countries for UN peacekeeping operations around the world. He pointed out that Bangladesh is the world’s second largest ready-made garment exporter after China.

“We are also exporting quality medicine with a competitive price to more than 100 countries including the US, Europe and the Gulf,” he said. “We are also supplying cargo and passenger ships manufactured in Bangladesh to foreign clients. Bangladesh Navy recently commissioned a frigate built by our own engineers, and for the first time Bangladesh Navy has two submarines in its fleet. All these development activities are going on under the leadership of Prime Minister Hasina to build a prosperous Bangladesh.”

In Jeddah, F.M. Borhan Uddin, Bangladeshi consul general hoisted the country’s national flag amid community members and students and teachers from the community schools to mark the event at the chancery of the mission.

Borhan said that despite global economic recession, Bangladesh has been able to maintain a steady growth of around 6.5 percent in the last decade and looks forward to achieving more than 7 percent in the coming years.