Dhaka/

Sultan of Brunei Darussalam Haji Hassanal Balkiah Muizzaddin Waddaullah arrived in Dhaka for the first time on his visit to Bangladesh. The special plane carrying him arrived at Shahjalal International Airport around 2.30 pm today on a two-day visit.

The President welcomed the Sultan of Brunei at the airport. Abdul Hamid. 21 gunshots were fired in honor of the Sultan as he disembarked from the plane. He was given a red carpet reception. President Abdul Hamid welcomed Sultan Hassanal Balkiah with flowers. Later, the two heads of state took the reception stage. The Sultan was given a guard of honor by three armies, a smart team. The national anthems of Brunei and Bangladesh were played. The guard was then visited by Sultan Balkiah of Brunei.

Among others, Awami League General Secretary, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, Immigration Welfare Minister Imran Ahmad, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam were present at the airport.

Sultan Balkiah, who came to Dhaka on a three-day visit, left for Savar National Memorial from the airport. From Savar he will board hotel in Dhaka. Foreign Minister in the evening. AK Abdul Momen will go to the hotel to meet Sultan. After the meeting with the Foreign Minister, the Sultan will go to Bangabhaban to meet the President. After the meeting with the President, the Sultan will attend a cultural program and state dinner organized in his honour.

On the second day of the visit, Sultan will visit the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum at 32 Dhanmondi on Sunday afternoon. After that, he will go to the Prime Minister’s Office for a formal bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh and the Sultan of Brunei will hold a private meeting before the bilateral meeting. In the presence of the two leaders, the stakeholders of the two countries will sign the agreement and agreement. After completing the formalities at the Prime Minister’s office, Sultan will go directly to the airport from there. He is scheduled to leave Dhaka on a special flight around 6 pm.

According to the sources of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two countries have prepared to sign five memorandums of understanding based on the Sultan’s visit. In addition to discussions on bilateral cooperation, the two countries’ aviation agreement, memorandum of understanding on Bangladeshi manpower recruitment cooperation and the two countries are likely to sign a memorandum of understanding on the recognition of seafarers’ certificates during the Sultan’s visit. Apart from these, preparations have been made for the purchase of fuel from Brunei and the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding on cultural matters.

According to sources, the whole world is facing an energy crisis due to the Russia-Ukraine war. As a result, the price of fuel in Bangladesh increased by an average of 47 percent. Bangladesh is trying to procure energy from different sources outside the traditional market. Brunei has already shown interest in energy trade. As part of that, the two countries will make an agreement on cooperation in the energy sector. Earlier, Bangladesh and Brunei signed an agreement on energy cooperation in April 2019. That agreement expired in April 2021. This agreement is scheduled to be renewed again.

Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Brunei wants to take workers from Bangladesh to implement its 2035 vision, through which it can complete its mega projects. However, Bangladesh has agreed with Brunei on safe, orderly and regular immigration. Currently there is a huge shortage of doctors and nurses in the country. In this case, Bangladesh has the opportunity to export professionals there. Apart from this, there is no direct flight from Bangladesh to the country. As a result, you have to go there by transiting to another country. If the two countries sign a memorandum of understanding on direct air traffic, the cost of labor export will come down in this regard. As a result, important compromises are going to be made in this visit on labor export, direct flights and energy issues.

Earlier in 2019, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited Brunei at the invitation of the Sultan. Six MoUs were signed during that visit. After the independence of Brunei in 1984, diplomatic relations were established with Bangladesh.