Dhaka: Saudi Arabia has assured Bangladesh of resuming issuance of Umrah visas to Bangladeshi pilgrims after the coming Hajj season, and recruitment of workers in all sectors gradually.

Nizar bin Obaid Madani, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said this in Jeddah on Monday mentioning that the government of Saudi Arabia attaches great importance to its relationship with Bangladesh, according to the Foreign Ministry here.

The Saudi Statement also expressed its readiness to sign a MoU on Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) proposed by Bangladesh to further strengthen the relations between the two countries.

He said this at a bilateral meeting with State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam.

Shahriar Alam reached Jeddah on 2 August on a three-day official visit to Saudi Arabia. He was given a warm reception at Royal Terminal of the King Abdul Aziz Airport where he was greeted by the Director General and Chief of Protocol of the Makkah Branch of the Saudi Foreign Ministry.

During the bilateral meeting, the two State Ministers discussed the whole range of bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia.

While extending thanks to the Saudi government for reopening the ‘Iqama’ transfer and facilitating the expatriate Bangladeshi nationals with the opportunity of changing professions in February 2014, Shahriar Alam requested the Saudi government to recruit more professionals, skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers from Bangladesh for various infrastructure and development projects in Saudi Arabia.

In response, the Saudi State Minster informed that his government has already started recruiting Bangladeshi female domestic helpers and recruitment of workers for all other sectors would began gradually.

The Saudi State Minister lauded Bangladesh’s achievements in socio economic sectors in recent years and hoped that other countries, particularly OIC member states, would be encouraged to follow the suit.

Mentioning that the existing relationship with Bangladesh has been ‘healthy and going to right direction’, he said the signing of an MoU on bilateral political consultations between the two countries, as proposed by the Bangladesh State Minister, would create new platforms for different ministries and departments of the two countries to engage more on mutually beneficial areas of cooperation.

State Minister Shahriar Alam also observed that the two countries should work more closely together to explore the full potential of bilateral engagements in trade and commerce.

In this regard, he mentioned that Bangladesh could provide Saudi Arabia with high quality and international standard products such as readymade garments, medicine, jute and leather goods, plastic items and ceramic items at competitive prices.

The Bangladesh State Minister is scheduled to meet the Governor of Jeddah, the Secretary General of OIC and the President of IDB on Tuesday.