Bangladesh is expected to sign a deal with Kuwait to protect the interests of thousands of expatriate Bangladeshis during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed's upcoming visit, officials here said Sunday.
More than 200,000 Bangladeshis are currently working in Kuwait and future employment of skilled and unskilled Bangladeshis would also be covered under the proposed memorandum of understanding (MOU) to be signed during the prime minister's three-day official visit beginning Monday, Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad told reporters.
Sheikh Hasina is due to have an audience with the amir, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, before holding talks with acting Kuwaiti prime minister Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, Azad was quoted as saying by the official BSS news agency.
Bangladesh's interests in Kuwait cover its expatriates, military personnel stationed there and Kuwaiti assistance and investment for Dhaka's development projects, officials said. The MOU would cover better working conditions for Bangladeshi workers, they said.
Azad said some 5,000 Bangladeshi troops were stationed in Kuwait.
They were sent to Kuwait mainly for mine-sweeping and other post-war missions after the Gulf War when a US-led multinational force forced Iraq to leave Kuwait following its invasion of the tiny but oil-rich state.
Officials here earlier said Sheikh Hasina's visit was aimed at boosting political and trade links between the two Muslim countries, both of whom are members of the 56-nation Organization of Islamic Conference -- DHAKA (AFP)
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