DHAKA, 19 September 2021, (TON): The Prime minister's Private Sector Industry and Investment Advisor Salman F Rahman on Saturday called upon Saudi Arabia to give duty-free access to some 137 Bangladeshi products to the Saudi market.

Salman, who is now in Saudi Arabia, made the announcement at a virtual meeting with Saudi Minister of Commerce and Investment Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi.

A press release said “the Prime Minister's Adviser mentioned that Saudi Arabia imports RMG, leather goods, plastic goods, frozen fish and pharmaceuticals from Bangladesh adding that Saudi Arabia could take necessary steps to import halal meat from Bangladesh and thus could minimize the trade imbalance between the two countries.”

The current bilateral trade volume between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia is $1.3 billion.

Extending greetings of the prime minister to the Saudi Badsha and Crown Prince, Salman Rahman put emphasis on more Saudi investment in Bangladesh to materialize the goal of 2041.

The prime minister’s adviser informed the Saudi commerce minister that Bangladesh is ready to set up a special economic zone exclusively for the Saudi investors with necessary facilities.

Following a request from the adviser to invest in various mega projects of Bangladesh under the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the Saudi minister assured him they would be considering the matter. In this context, Salman sought Saudi investment for setting up Dhaka to Payra Port rail connection as well as transforming Cox's Bazar into an international standard tourism hub.