Online Desk :  Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was on Friday accorded a red carpet reception on his arrival in Dhaka on a very short official trip to take the relations between the two countries to a new height, reports UNB. The Malaysian prime minister, who is leading a 58-member delegation, landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 2:00pm. Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus received him amid a gun salute and guard of honour. The high commissioner of Malaysia to Bangladesh, among others, was present.

After almost a decade, a Malaysian prime minister is visiting Bangladesh, and this official visit is the first by any head of government to Bangladesh since the formation of the interim government on August 8. He was directly taken to Hotel InterContinental from the airport where he will be staying during the hours-long visit. The bilateral meeting between Malaysian Prime Minister Ibrahim and Chief Adviser Prof Yunus will be held at the same hotel, which will be followed by a joint press statement. During the meeting, 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 are expected to be highlighted, said Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain.

An estimated 800,000 Bangladeshis now live and work in Malaysia. Of them, about 450,000 migrated between August 2022 and May this year. The two leaders will also have a one-to-one meeting before the bilateral talks. Prof Yunus will also host high tea in honour of the Malaysian prime minister. The Malaysian prime miniser will also meet President Mohammed Shahabuddin at Bangabhaban, a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told UNB. He will sign visitor’s book there. Malaysia is going to be the next chair of Asean from January 2025, and the Rohingya issue will also be discussed. In addition, the issue of Bangladesh to become a “Sectoral Dialogue Partner” in Asean in terms of regional cooperation will also be specially raised.

“This visit is very important in terms of bilateral relations,” said the foreign affairs adviser. This visit is expected to be considered as an expression of deepening bilateral relations and enduring friendship between Bangladesh and Malaysia, said the adviser. The 58-member delegation include the country’s foreign minister, trade and investment minister, deputy minister of transport, deputy minister of religious affairs, two members of parliament and senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In August this year, Prof Yunus invited Anwar Ibrahim to undertake a short visit to Bangladesh to further strengthen the brotherly relationship between the two countries.

Malaysia is the eighth largest investor in Bangladesh. Prof Yunus has long-standing good ties with Malaysia. At least seven Malaysian universities have Yunus Centres, promoting social business ideas he champions and his three-zero concepts. Malaysian companies, including several owned by its sovereign funds, have invested more than $5 billion in Bangladesh and are now willing to invest more, including in education. A second Malaysian car manufacturer has signed an agreement with a Chittagong-based compthe daily morning voiceany for distributing and assembling cars. Malaysia says they could be a desired destination for medical tourism, saying the Bangladeshi people can avail essential medical treatment in the country at an affordable price. The Malaysian prime minister is scheduled to leave Dhaka at 6:25pm.