Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Friday assured
that his government would give immediate attention to the fresh entry of 18,000
Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia in the first phase.
“We
have discussed the whole system. And we have gone through very transparent
procedure. We need workers but they can’t be treated as modern slaves, no
matter if they are from Bangladesh or any other country,” he said.
Visiting
Malaysian Prime Minister said this while responding to a question during a
joint press appearance with Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus at Hotel
InterContinental after bilateral talks.
Anwar
Ibrahim however reminded Bangladesh to remain careful about criminal activities
of anyone- either Malaysians or foreigners in Malaysia.
Prof
Yunus expressed his gratitude to the Malaysian premier on behalf of the people
of Bangladesh for making this announcement on the workers issue.
Earlier,
Dr Yunus and the Malaysian Prime Minister had a brief one-on-one meeting at the
Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport before their bilateral talks at Hotel
InterContinental.
Prof Yunus said, he was ‘very happy’ to welcome his old friend in Dhaka as they
have acquaintance with each other for over four decades.
During
the talks, the Chief Advisor said, he spoke briefly on the student-led
revolution, the sacrifice of the students and people made in the movement, and
the carnage committed by the ousted government.
The
chief adviser also spoke about his long association with Malaysian universities
and its leaders.
They
boarded the same car to travel to the bilateral venue-in an expression of their
close friendship.
During
the bilateral meeting, they discussed three core areas- political, trade and
investment.
The
issues of mutual interest, including economic, political, trade and investment,
education, technology and human resource development, manpower export, higher
education cooperation, communications, infrastructure development, and defense
cooperation were also highlighted.
In
addition, the issue of Bangladesh to become a ‘Sectoral Dialogue Partner’ in
ASEAN in terms of regional cooperation was specially raised. Malaysia is going
to be the next chair of ASEAN from January 2025.
Dr
Yunus said Rohingya issues were also discussed in their meeting.
Malaysian
Prime Minister laid emphasis on ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ and
addressing the issues of Malaysian companies in Bangladesh and vice-versa in a
faster pace.
Anwar
Ibrahim said they do not compromise with corruption, governance and issues of
economic fundamentals.
He
also said the joint commission meeting can be held as soon as possible.
The
Malaysian prime minister, who led a 58-member delegation, landed at Hazrat
Shahjalal International Airport around 2pm.
Prof
Yunus received the Malaysian prime minister in the airport to take the
relations between the two countries to a new height.
After
almost a decade, a Malaysian prime minister visited Bangladesh, and this
official visit was the first by head of any government to Bangladesh since the
formation of the interim government led by Dr Yunus on August 8.
Anwar
Ibrahim was directly taken to Hotel InterContinental from the airport where he
spent a couple of hours.
Prof
Yunus also hosted high tea in honour of the Malaysian prime minister.
Later,
the Malaysian premier met President Mohammed Shahabuddin at Bangabhaban and
signed the visitor's book there.
The Malaysian prime minister left Dhaka at 7 pm wrapping up his brief visit to Bangladesh.