Brunei’s Sultan Made His First Visit to Bangladesh – The Diplomat

Sultan of Brunei Haji Hassanal Bolkiah paid a state go to to Bangladesh on October 15-17 on the invitation of Bangladesh’s President M. Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Notably, it was the sultan’s first official go to to Dhaka for the reason that institution of diplomatic relations on Might 5, 1984. The aim of the historic go to was to strengthen political and financial cooperation between the 2 international locations.

Brunei Darussalam is a small however strategically situated and oil wealthy Southeast Asian nation. Brunei proclaimed its independence on January 1, 1984. Bangladesh opened a resident diplomatic mission in Brunei in 1985, and Brunei reciprocated by launching its diplomatic mission in Dhaka. Ostensibly, bilateral relations between the 2 international locations are embedded within the shared imaginative and prescient to advertise peace, safety, stability, and socioeconomic improvement.  Moreover non secular bonds between the 2 majority Muslim international locations, and their commonalities in custom and tradition, each additionally work intently in several worldwide fora such because the United Nations, Group of Islamic Convention, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Non-aligned Motion.

With a complete inhabitants of round 447,000 in October 2022, Brunei – one of the latest nations to realize independence from the British Empire – has witnessed extraordinary financial improvement through the years. Pushed by rising exports of oil and pure fuel, it has emerged as a high-income nation whereas additionally categorized as a part of the creating world, a uncommon feat. Oil and fuel have remained the central pillars of its financial system ever for the reason that sources have been found in 1929. In accordance with Buying and selling Economics’ world macro fashions, Brunei’s GDP is projected to hit $16 billion by the top of 2022.

Alternatively, with an estimated inhabitants of over 168 million in October 2022, Bangladesh’s GDP is projected to prime $460 billion this 12 months. Bangladesh has loved an unbelievable success story of financial transformation, refuting Henry Kissinger’s notorious label of Bangladesh as an “worldwide basket case.” The nation seems to turn into an upper-middle earnings nation by 2031 because it continues to make vital progress in decreasing poverty, boosted by sustained financial progress and social progress.

Now each Brunei and Bangladesh need to additional their financial successes by means of a more in-depth partnership.

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Mentioning the host nation’s investment-friendly setting, in his assembly with Sultan Bolkiah, Bangladesh’s President Hamid known as upon the enterprise neighborhood of Brunei to spend money on Bangladesh.

On the political entrance, Hamid expressed his expectation of full cooperation from Brunei to assist Bangladesh attain the standing of a Sectoral Dialogue Associate of ASEAN. Hamid additionally sought Brunei’s help for the protected return of greater than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims sheltered in Bangladesh to their ancestral motherland within the Rakhine state of Myanmar. A lot of the Rohingya refugees escaped state-sponsored violence and persecution in August 2017; Bangladesh has been pushing the worldwide neighborhood to assist guarantee their protected return for over 5 years now.

Within the sultan’s assembly with Bangladesh’s prime minster, Bolkiah and Hasina oversaw the signing of 4 necessary paperwork: an air providers settlement; a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the employment and recruitment of Bangladeshi employees; an MoU on cooperation within the provide of liquefied pure fuel (LNG) and different petroleum merchandise; and a MoU on the popularity of transport certificates.

The MoUs search to advance cooperation in a number of precedence areas from the bilateral relationship. The MoU on power presents a possibility to discover mechanisms for long-term collaboration on the provision of LNG and different petroleum merchandise to fulfill Bangladesh’s rising demand for power. Notably, Brunei owns one of many largest LNG manufacturing facility on this planet.

The MoU on employment represents the truth that Brunei is a popular vacation spot for Bangladeshi migrant employees. At present, about 20,000 employees from Bangladesh are in Brunei. In accordance with the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Coaching (BMET), on common, about 5,000 employees from Bangladesh have been employed yearly in Brunei earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, solely 950 Bangladeshi employees got jobs in Brunei between January 2020 and August 2022.

Whereas the sultan’s go to to Bangladesh is historic, it must also been seen because the continuation of current efforts to advance relations. Hasina formally visited Brunei from April 21-23, 2019, when six MoUs have been signed to strengthen cooperation within the fields of agriculture, fisheries, livestock, and provide of a lot wanted liquefied pure fuel (LNG).

The primary Overseas Workplace Consultations (FOC) between the 2 international locations occurred in Dhaka in September 2018 and the second spherical was held in Brunei in August this 12 months. These are necessary engagements between the 2 international locations to completely optimize the untapped potential of their relationship.

At current, Brunei-Bangladesh bilateral commerce is insignificant each when it comes to quantity and worth. In accordance with the United Nations COMTRADE, Bangladesh exported items value simply $2.86 million to Brunei in 2020. Alternatively, Brunei’s exports to Bangladesh totaled an estimated $30 million, with petroleum fuel alone accounting for $29.9 million of that. Consequently, Brunei’s commerce surplus with Bangladesh is substantial.

Nevertheless, there’s scope for additional enlargement of commerce with potential Bangladeshi exports equivalent to ready-made clothes, prescribed drugs, leather-based merchandise and processed meals merchandise (fruit juice, spices). Bangladesh has the capability to fulfill all of Brunei’s garment necessities, because it ranks second on this planet after China in phrases ready-made clothes exports, using round 4.4 million folks.

A shared imaginative and prescient to advertise peace and financial prosperity are necessary options of Bangladesh-Brunei relations. Mutual cooperation has been rising over the previous many years, however it’s evolving sluggishly in arenas equivalent to commerce, funding, power, and agriculture. The go to of Sultan Bolkiah and signing of an settlement and three MoUs will help constructing a resilient relationship and are seemingly to offer additional impetus for the longer term improvement of an efficient strategic partnership. That stated, Bangladesh must vigorously pursue financial diplomacy and powerful engagement with Brunei to advertise its nationwide pursuits.