On the auspicious occasion of the 43rd 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 Saudi Arabia, to our all friends and wellwishers as well as to my fellow countrymen living in the Kingdom.

On this great day, I recall with profound respect our Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh MujiburRahman, who steered us in achieving our long cherished independence.

I pay deep tribute to the memories of the martyrs of the War of Liberation as well as to our valiant freedom fighters, whose supreme sacrifices made us free as a nation.

The present government of Bangladesh, under the dynamic leadership of 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. Bangladesh has now become a role model for fighting poverty and extremism, empowering women, disaster management and in coping with challenges posed by global climate change.

Over the years, we have strengthened our image as a responsible and contributing member of the comity 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 are thankful to the government of Saudi Arabia 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.

I also 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.

On this memorable day, I also take this opportunity to extend our sincere thanks and gratitude to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for granting general amnesty to the expatriate Bangladeshi nationals and thereby enabling 800,000 Bangladeshi expatriates to rectify their status.

I would also like to express our gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for his kind and generous directives for allowing Bangladeshi workers to transfer their sponsorship and change their professions effective from Feb. 16 2014.

I urge upon the Bangladeshi expatriates to abide by the rules and regulations of Saudi Arabia and to uphold positive image of Bangladesh.

I wish all particularly our expatriates continued peace, prosperity and happiness.

— Nazmul Islam

Consul General of Bangladesh