Chief adviser to the interim government Professor Muhammad Yunus is scheduled to leave Dhaka today on a three-day bilateral visit to Malaysia with focus on overseas employment opportunities for Bangladeshis and investment.
The Southeast Asian country has suspended hiring workers from Bangladesh since June 2024.
A bilateral meeting would be held between the two leaders at the Malaysian Prime Minister鈥檚 Office at Putrajaya on August 12.
At least five memorandums of understanding for cooperation in areas of defence, energy, business, workers鈥� welfare and strategic studies are expected to be signed during the visit, according to officials.
鈥楥hief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus is set to fly to Malaysia tomorrow on a three-day official visit from August 11 to 13 at the invitation of the Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim,鈥� chief adviser鈥檚 press secretary Shafiqul Alam told a press briefing at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka city.聽聽
鈥楬is visit will be focused on overseas employment so that Malaysia recruits more Bangladeshis for their booming industrial sector and Malaysian investments in Bangladesh,鈥� he added.
Shafiqul Alam said that Malaysia being a major destination for Bangladeshi migrant workers where around 15 lakh Bangladesh nationals were staying, this visit would be a crucial one in taking the bilateral relations to a new height.
Asked about the syndicates allegedly controlling Malaysia鈥檚 overseas recruitments and the issue of suspension of new recruitments from Bangladesh, the press secretary said that all the issues would be deeply discussed in the bilateral talks for a positive outcome.聽
He expressed hope that visa-related complications for workers would also be addressed during the high-level meeting.
Bangladesh would also seek cooperation from Malaysia in deep-sea fishing and electric vehicle manufacturing, said the press secretary.
Addressing the press briefing, foreign ministry director general for public diplomacy wing Shah Asif Rahman said that five MoUs in several areas were expected to be signed during the visit.聽
He said that the MoUs were likely to be signed on defence cooperation, energy cooperation, formation of business councils, cooperation between Bangladesh- Malaysia Chamber and Commerce and Industry and Malaysian institution MIMOS, and cooperation between Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies and Malaysian Institute of Strategic and International Studies.
In addition, he said, there were possibilities of three 鈥榚xchanges of notes鈥� between the two countries on cooperation in the halal ecosystem, higher education and diplomatic training academy.
Shah Asif said that Bangladesh鈥檚 application to become a 鈥榮ectoral dialogue partner鈥� of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership would be raised strongly during the visit for their cooperation in this regard.
A high-level delegation, including foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain, expatriates鈥� welfare and overseas employment adviser Asif Nazrul, energy adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan, national security adviser Khalilur Rahman, chief adviser鈥檚 special envoy on international affairs Lutfey Siddiqi, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority executive chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun, and foreign secretary Asad Alam Siam, is to accompany the chief adviser during the Malaysia visit.
In October 2024, Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim after a bilateral meeting in Dhaka announced that they had agreed to consider issuing 18,000 work visas for those Bangladeshis who got stuck and could not fly due to some recent measures by the Malaysia government.
Around 50,000 Bangladeshi aspirants failed to migrate to Malaysia after completing almost all the processes by the May 31 deadline set by the Malaysian authorities.
Of them16,970 aspirant migrants failed to fly to Malaysia at the last moment only because they could not secure air tickets.
In September 2018, Malaysia suspended hiring workers from Bangladesh amid huge allegations of corruption.
Later in August 2022, the market reopened for Bangladeshi workers and remained open until May 31, 2024.
Bangladeshi workers are mainly employed in farms, factories, restaurants and other service sectors.