DHAKA, March 6, 2024 (BSS) - Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud today urged expatriate Bangladeshis residing in Saudi Arabia to send remittance to Bangladesh through proper channels.

 
"Nearly 30 lakh Bangladeshi resides in Saudi Arabia. It will play a big role in the country's economy if all expatriates send remittance in legal way," he told a reception accorded to him by expatriate Bangladeshis in Jeddah, said a foreign ministry press release here.

Currently, the foreign minister attended an extraordinary meeting of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Jeddah that discussed continued Israeli aggression against Palestinian people.
 
On the sideline of the Extraordinary CFM, Mahmud paid a call on Saudi Arabian foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud at the OIC Secretariat in Jeddah.

Mahmud said at the meeting with his Saudi counterpart, the Saudi Foreign Minister congratulated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on forming government for the 4th consecutive time and praised her leadership for hosting forcibly displaced Rohingya people in Bangladesh on humanitarian ground.

The Saudi foreign minister assured full cooperation of Saudi Arabia on the Rohingya issue, Mahmud added.

Bangladesh foreign minister said he also discussed about the proposed visit of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Bangladesh which will take place soon at a convenient time.

Mahmud said he sought cooperation in crude oil purchase which his Saudi counterpart assured to consider including investment in refinery and petrochemical industries.

Bangladesh ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mohammad Javed Patwari, Consul General in Jeddah Muhammad Nazmul Haque and expatriates Ismail Hossain, Waziullah Miah, Mosharraf Hossain Khan, Humayun Kabir, Kazi Abdullah, Kamrul Hasan Jewel, freedom fighter Mainuddin Bhuiyan, Delwar Hossain Sarkar, Ataur Rahman Bhuiyan and Shamim Chowdhury, among others, joined the reception.