UAE, Bangladesh discuss easing of visas, says consul-general
Bangladesh and UAE are discussing easing of visas for the South Asian nationals, a senior official said.
Md. Rashedujjaman, the consul-general of Bangladesh in Dubai and Northern Emirates, said the population of Bangladeshi nationals in the UAE stands at roughly one million, remaining stable and has not increased due to 'complications in visas'.
In an interview with Khaleej Times on the occasion of the celebration of the country's 55th Independence and National Day in Dubai, he said, they're in 'discussion to ease (visas for Bangladeshi) with the UAE government.'
He added that Bangladeshi professionals work in various industries and as entrepreneurs, contributing to economic growth.
"We want to see Bangladeshi nationals become a part of UAE's success story."
Mohammed AlBahri, Head of Protocol and Operations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dubai Office; Tarek Ahmed, ambassador of Bangladesh in the UAE; and around 300 guests including diplomats of other countries attended the event.
Expanding consular services
Rashedujjaman said the Bangladeshi consulate has introduced many new consular initiatives recently for the nationals living across the UAE.
'We are conducting special consular services three days a week – Saturday, Sunday and Friday – across different emirates. Our team goes to other emirates to provide on-the-spot consular services to the workers who cannot come to the consulate to save their time, energy and money. In addition, we have opened a help desk inside our consulate because many uneducated workers fall prey to the brokers because they probably do not have the right information,' said Rashedujjaman.
Through this mobile service, all kinds of consular services are provided to Bangladeshi nationals for three days.
CEPA talks
The consul-general revealed that the UAE and Bangladeshi have begun Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) discussions, which are at 'the early stage'.
The total bilateral trade between the two countries is around $1.5 billion. 'If CEPA talks are successful, the trade volume will grow manifold.'
He believes that the economic relations have not been fully exploited and both governments are working closely to boost trade.
'Not only trade, but we also seek investments from UAE, particularly in areas like ICT, renewable energy, infrastructure, port facilities, agro-processing and processing of the halal meat in Bangladesh to export to other destinations,' he added.
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