'Bangladeshis in UAE are national assets'

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Abu Dhabi - The prime minister is currently in Abu Dhabi as part of a four-day official visit to the UAE that started on Sunday.

Anjana Sankar

Published: Wed 20 Feb 2019, 1:10 PM

Last updated: Thu 21 Feb 2019, 8:47 AM

Sheikh Hasina is riding on the crest of a landslide political victory in the recent elections in Bangladesh. Her sweeping electoral win for a third consecutive term is mainly credited to her far-sighted economic policies that has put the South Asian country on the fast lane of development. The daughter of Bangladesh's founding father and first prime minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina has been the formidable leader of the Awami League party since 1981. She was featured in Forbes's 2018 list of The World's Most Powerful Women and is the longest serving prime minister in the history of Bangladesh. (Watch the video message here)

On her first overseas trip after assuming office, Sheikh Hasina visited Germany before arriving in the UAE on Sunday. In a sit-down interview with Khaleej Times' Anjana Sankar, the Bangladeshi Prime Minister spoke about her vision for development and her concerns regarding the safe return of more than a million Rohingya refugees that her country hosts.

Excerpts from the interview

Q: This is your first overseas trip after assuming office for a third consecutive term. And you have met the top leadership of the country. It was said that you came with a model of development to showcase to the world. Can you tell us what is the outcome of the visit?

A: With Abu Dhabi, we have a long relationship since our country's liberation. My father also visited the UAE. Many of our workers are here. And besides that, I am very much interested that more investment should come to our country from the UAE. For the last two days, I had a wonderful visit and I met the top leaders including Sheikha Fatima. We had good discussions.

We have a 160 million population. I have to give them a better life. That is the aim. This visit is very very important for us, and I hope that more investment will come to Bangladesh. And we will be able to work together.

Q: You also met some business leaders from various communities...

It's quite natural. Many businessmen are interested to invest in Bangladesh because we offer very good facilities. We have started building a hundred special economic zones where we can accommodate domestic and foreign investments. So, that will create opportunity for our people and also we can increase our food production. Our domestic market is also booming side by side. With all our neighbouring countries, we have very good connectivity. And we want to do more, especially in South Asia and South East Asia. I am very hopeful after this visit that more investment will come. And businessmen here showed interest in Bangladesh.

Q: How do you think this visit will benefit the Bangladeshi community in the UAE? They have in recent years faced issues related to visa regulations and job insecurity.

We discussed this issue with the high leadership. Well, they showed interest in our people. Our people are very polite and hardworking. We already have established many training centres, schools and training institutions so that we can give professional training to our people. So, wherever they go, they should learn more. Also, we have set up nine language labs so that it is easy for them to get jobs. In one word, I can say that this visit is very, very successful.

Q: You are one of the fastest growing economies in the world. What would that mean in terms of Bangladesh's policy related to sending unskilled workers to the Gulf region?

A: It depends on the people. If they want to come, definitely they can. But it is true that in our country, we need workforce because we have established economic zones and every area now we have training schools, colleges and institutions. However, it depends on how people want to work. If they want to come abroad, they can come. If they want to stay back at home, the doors are open for every opportunity.

Q: You took up office for a third term. What is your vision for a prosperous Bangladesh? What are the challenges you see ahead?

Our country was liberated 47 years ago. Unfortunately, the country could not make much progress. Because within three and a half years after our liberation, our father of the nation Mujibur Rahman was assassinated. I lost all my family except my youngest sister. The authoritarian government ruled the country could not make any progress for the common people. After 21 years, when I formed the government, I targeted progress. When I got the chance to serve our people, immediately I have taken steps, in areas like food security, healthcare, education, infrastructure development, electricity, water, sanitation. And all these are the basic needs.

Now, our poverty level has reduced to 21 per cent. I hope it will come down more. Our per capita income also has increased. We graduated as a developing country. Now it should be sustainable one. I want the economic progress to be sustainable. I am really grateful to the people that they showed their confidence and faith in me. They voted for me. A third consecutive term is very difficult to achieve. But it is only because of our people who enjoy the fruit of all the achievements. By 2041, the country should be a developed country.

Q: While climbing the economic ladder, the country has also witnessed a string of violent incidents including brutal killings perpetuated by religious fundamentalists. How do you plan to take on the extremist elements in Bangladesh?

A: Extremism is not only in Bangladesh. It is a worldwide phenomenon. But in Bangladesh, we could control it. We declared zero tolerance to extremism or terrorism. And we are very successful on that. What I think is that we cannot solve this problem only through law enforcement agencies. That is why awareness should be created. We included people from all walks of life - parents, school teachers, religious priests, people's representatives, common people - and set up a committee to look into the area so that any signs of terrorist activity is immediately informed and action is taken. People are alert now. Some accidents happen. But we take immediate action.

Q: Is there a concern that extremist elements among the Rohingya will infiltrate into the country along with the refugee population?

A: What I declare is that we will not allow anyone to use our land for any terrorist activities inside the country or in our neighbouring countries. We are very alert about it. And when Rohingya people started coming into our country, immediately we started giving them ID cards with biometrics. So, all the information are with us. Our law enforcement agencies are alert about it. So no one can do any unlawful work or involve in terrorist activities.

anjana@khaleejtimes.com