Saudi delegation to visit, discuss energy cooperation: Ambassador

A delegation of Saudi Arabia will visit Bangladesh and discuss energy cooperation, Saudi Ambassador Essa Youssef Essa Al Duhailan said in a press briefing at the Saudi Embassy in Dhaka on Thursday.

Replying to a query on whether Saudi Arabia will support Bangladesh in tackling the global fuel oil situation, the Saudi ambassador said, "I cannot answer this. This can be informed by our ministry. A delegation of Saudi Arabia will visit Bangladesh and then energy cooperation will be discussed."

At the briefing, the ambassador also touched upon the strong manpower cooperation between the two countries. 

"More workers than before are going to Saudi Arabia from Bangladesh. Now we are issuing five to eight thousand visas per day from the Bangladesh embassy."

Besides, he expects Saudi Arabia's military and security cooperation with Bangladesh to increase.

"For this purpose, we have plans to sign an agreement on military and security cooperation between the two countries."

Highlighting that Saudi assistance to Bangladesh had not decreased in response to another question, the Saudi ambassador said since 2015, Saudi Arabia has provided more than $600 million in various projects to Bangladesh with the support increasing every year.

He also said the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) will provide primary healthcare to the Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar. 

Additionally, a voluntary medical initiative to fight blindness and its causes in Bangladesh is also being run by the KSrelief and more projects are planned through it which aim to perform 35,000 medical examinations, 3,500 cataract surgeries and distribute 7,000 pairs of eyeglasses in different areas of Bangladesh. 

Since 2015, KSrelief centre has performed 7,898 eye surgeries, distributed 23,656 glasses, and conducted 66,088 exams overall, informed the ambassador, adding, in Bangladesh there are 38 projects related to health, food security and charitable assistance running at a total cost of around $1.86 crore. 

He also announced that Bangladesh declared its support for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia hosting the Expo 2030 in Riyadh.