ED: Towards greater bilateral cooperation

It is encouraging to see that Bangladesh and Kuwait are to set a comprehensive roadmap together in the next five years, to boost bilateral cooperation in several sectors. 

Bangladesh and Kuwait already enjoy a healthy working relationship -- Kuwait is already providing financial assistance for different projects already being implemented in Bangladesh, while about 20,000 Bangladeshi troops have already worked as peacekeepers in Kuwait since the Gulf War and continue to provide support to the small Gulf nation.  

This in addition to the significant number of migrant workers who are in Kuwait and are sending remittance back to Bangladesh. 

Therefore, there is reason to believe that, under the proposed new roadmap, Kuwait and Bangladesh will only strengthen this existing relationship and identify areas where working together will pay dividends for both nations. One such example is the proposed initiative to establish an oil refinery in Bangladesh, which is currently being discussed. 

Building lasting relationships with other nations, be they neighbouring countries or ones afar, must be a strategy that Bangladesh continues to employ, particularly over the next two decades as it attempts to navigate through this pandemic, while simultaneously keeping our growth rate high and hitting the milestones we have set for ourselves.   

As we embark upon the very ambitious goals of establishing ourselves as a middle-income nation, fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals, and successfully evading the middle-income trap to become a fully developed nation over the next two decades, it is of paramount importance that we continue to strengthen our ties with all global economies, as it shall be a strategy that will go a long way to ensure that we are successful in reaching those goals.