Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Saudi Arabia may open recruitment of manpower from Bangladesh, Al-Hayat newspaper reported on Tuesday. The ministry's undersecretary for international affairs Dr. Ahmed Al-Fihaid said a special committee has been established to study the resumption of manpower from Bangladesh. He said: “The committee will study the criminal records of Bangladeshi workers to ensure that they are clean before reopening the doors for recruitment.” Meanwhile, the Saudi-Bangladeshi joint commission wound up on Monday a meeting in Riyadh, discussing a number of political, security, commercial and other issues. During the meeting the Bangladeshi side pledged to protect Saudi citizens in Bangladesh and said their government was giving top priority to this responsibility. The pledge was made following the killing of the second secretary at the Saudi Embassy in Dhaka Khalaf Al-Ali in March 2012. Five Bangladeshis charged with the murder were sentenced to death. Representatives of a number of Saudi ministries attended the meeting. They included the ministries of interior, foreign affairs, labor, health, agriculture and others. The meeting called for reactivating the security agreement signed between the two countries, including exchanging security data and solving the problem of Bangladeshi overstayers in the Kingdom. A source close to the meeting said the Saudi side asked Bangladesh to open its market so the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) could market its products there. The Bangladeshi side asked the Kingdom to offer investment opportunities to businessmen from the country. The two sides pledged to further cooperation in food security, combating trade fraud, facilitating trade exchange and other areas.
