Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has called for increased Saudi investment in Bangladesh, with particular emphasis on the solar power sector. He made the appeal during a courtesy meeting with Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Engineer Waleed El-Khereiji at the Prime Minister’s Office in the Bangladesh Secretariat on Tuesday. Rahman said Bangladesh has created a favourable investment environment and is implementing extensive programmes to expand the use of clean energy.

The prime minister said investment by Saudi companies in clean energy would benefit both countries. Both sides agreed to take Bangladesh-Saudi bilateral relations to new heights. El-Khereiji described Bangladesh’s current investment environment as positive under Rahman’s leadership and said Saudi Arabia was sincerely interested in strengthening relations and expanding cooperation and investment in promising sectors.

The Saudi deputy foreign minister said Saudi Arabia was interested in investing in processed food, seafood, tropical food, agro-based industries, information technology, artificial intelligence and renewable energy. He also praised the important contribution of Bangladeshi workers to Saudi development. El-Khereiji invited Rahman to visit Saudi Arabia, and the prime minister thanked him and expressed hope of making the trip at a convenient time.