The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia to Bangladesh celebrated the 89th National Day of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with great enthusiasm and festivity.

Report by Humayun Kabir , From Bangladesh.

The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia to Bangladesh celebrated the 89th National Day of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 23 September 2019 with great enthusiasm and festivity.

In observance of the 89th National Day of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Bangladesh hosted a reception in the evening at the Grang Ballroom , LE Meridien ,  Dhaka. Charge d’ Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Embassy to Bangladesh H.E.  Harqan Bin Huwaydi Bin Shawyah and officers of the Embassy welcomed the guests at the ceremony.

Hon’ble  Minister , Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Mr.Imran Ahmed M.P attended the reception as the Chief Guest. The reception was also attended, among others, by Parliamentarians, Ambassadors and High Commissioners, diplomats and defence advisers of different Embassies and High Commissions, Heads of International Organizations, high civil and military officials, friends of  the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , businessmen, journalists, members of civil society, cultural community and social elite of Bangladesh ,  officers and officials of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Bangladesh along with their spouses and expatriate.

The official part of the reception included playing of national anthems of  Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh.

On the occasion of the 89^th Saudi National Day , Charge d’ Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Embassy to Bangladesh H.E.  Harqan Bin Huwaydi Bin Shawyah in his speech said 23^rd September appears every year to remind us of this precious day of the unification of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, telling us the story of a long struggle that lasted more than three decades led by the founder King Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud- May Allah rest his soul -to unify this holy land, which is story of the struggle and success of generations with highly motivation and timeless sacrifices.

Today, under the wise leadership of the Custodian of Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud and Crown Prince, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense -may Allah preserve them. In recent years, within the Kingdom’s vision 2030, the Kingdom has witnessed tremendous leaps in all economic, social, cultural and income reforms aimed at comprehensive and sustainable development.

Harqan Bin Huwaydi Bin Shawyah added that , The Saudi-Bangladesh relations are solid and distinctive based on strong religious, cultural and humanity ties. This bilateral relation has witnessed a notable strength and development after the visit of Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Kingdom and meeting with the Custodian of Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud – may Allah preserve him -as well as successive high-level continuous mutual visits in recent times, which resulted in understanding and signing a number of bilateral agreements to benefit the both countries and peoples.

Charge d’ Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Embassy to Bangladesh also said , I would like to thank the sisterly Government of Bangladesh for its cooperation with the Kingdom to make the “Makkah Route Initiative” successful in this year Hajj Program, one of the initiatives to serve the “guest of Allah” in accordance with vision 2030, aiming to improve the services of pilgrims and facilitate their travel procedures to perform Hajj obligation, through the completion of immigration services, checking the availability of health requirements, coding and sorting luggage at the airports of the countries where the pilgrims leave from.

As a chief guest of this program Hon’ble  Minister , Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Mr.Imran Ahmed M.P said ,our relations are characterized by cordial and close bonds of mutual understanding and strong fraternity. It is with a modicum of pride we can say that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest and most valued destination for the Bangladesh workforce, which contributes significantly to the national development of both the countries.The flow of remittance from Saudi Arabia to Bangladesh is about one-fifth of total remittance sent to Bangladesh by our expatriates. Bangladesh is ever thankful to the Saudi Government for hosting a large Bangladesh community in the Kingdom.

Minister added that, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia share a common perception on many issues in regional and international arenas, particularly the issues relating to Islamic Ummah. In fact, common priorities shared perspectives and fraternal relations have strengthened collaboration between two countries with UN, OIC and other international and regional forums. The existing bonds of friendship between the two countries have been further cemented by ever-deepening bilateral cooperation in the fields of economy,   trade, investment, defence, culture, education, manpower etc. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia now stands as one of the most important bilateral development partners of Bangladesh, relationship dynamics of both countries have envolved from uni-dimensional cooperation in labour sector to multifaceted cooperation in various new sectors over the years to reach the present level of maturity

Later , On the occasion of the 89^th Saudi National Day a cake was cut by the chief guest of this programme Mr.Imran Ahmed M.P  in the presence of diplomats from different embassies.

The programme was rounded off with a buffet dinner where various Saud Arabian delicacies were served.

Later on the occasion of the 89th National Day of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, officials of the Saudi Embassy to Bangladesh performed the dance with their traditional Arabic songs by highlighting the history of the National Day.