Bilateral Relationship between Bangladesh and the State of Kuwait  

The bilateral relationship between Bangladesh and Kuwait is very historic in nature. With the passage of time, the relation has been further developed and strengthened by the prudent leadership of the former Amir His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and visionary leadership of Honourable Prime Minister of Bangladesh Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina. The Government of Bangladesh is committed to further strengthening bilateral relations in every domain including political, economic, export and import, trade and investment, manpower, agriculture, education, tourism and defence sector.

Kuwait recognized Bangladesh on 04 November 1973 following the historic meeting between Father of our Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the then Prime Minister of Bangladesh and the Head of Government of Kuwait in the side-line of NAM-Summit held in Algiers in 1973. Strong support extended to the Arabs during the Arab-Israel war in 1973 further boosted Bangladesh’s image in Kuwait. The former Emir His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, who was then Foreign Minister along with Palestinian Leader His Excellency Mr. Yassir Arafat, undertook a special mission to negotiate the issue between Bangladesh and Pakistan, leading to mutual recognition by both Bangladesh and Pakistan which paved the way for Bangladesh to participate at the 2^nd OIC Summit in Lahore on 22-24 February 1974. Both the countries started their missions on reciprocity basis in April 1974.

One of the major objectives of Kuwait’s Foreign Policy is to stand by its friends throughout the world. The late Amir of the State of Kuwait Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AI-Sabah, highlighted Kuwait's global outreach strategy in 1961 during the establishment of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. This support comes in the forms of loans and grants that go into the recipient country's development of infrastructure, strengthening of socio-economic status and different sectoral advancement. With the establishment of diplomatic relations between Kuwait and Bangladesh in 1974, Kuwait evinced keen interest in providing soft loans to the newly independent country. All forms of Kuwaiti official assistance to Bangladesh is channelled through Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. Kuwait fund provided soft loans in the priority projects of power & energy, communications and agriculture sector of Bangladesh. So far, Kuwait has provided loans for twenty four (24) development projects amounting to approximately half a billion dollar over a three decade period. These loans have been provided as soft loans with highly flexible terms and conditions.

Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina visited Kuwait in her first tenure in November 2000. Hon’ble Prime Minister paid an official visit to Kuwait in February 2010 at the invitation of the Kuwaiti Amir which is the symbol of friendly gesture of Kuwait towards the present government. This has further strengthened bilateral relations between the two countries at the highest level of comfort/co-operation in all respects.  Both governments of Bangladesh and Kuwait are happily running towards brotherly relations having economic impact from each other and mutual support in the regional and international forum.

His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, the Prime Minister of the State of Kuwait paid a three-day Official Visit to Bangladesh at the invitation of Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh from 3-5 May 2016. During the visit, His Highness the Prime Minister of Kuwait paid a courtesy call on with His Excellency Mr. Md. Abdul Hamid, Hon’ble President of Bangladesh. The two leaders emphasized on the importance of deepening cooperation between Bangladesh and Kuwait both in bilateral, regional and multilateral arenas. The two Prime Ministers recalled with deep respect the relations between Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, the former Amir of Kuwait that had laid down the foundation of bilateral relations between the two countries. Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh recalled with fondness the visit by His Highness the Amir of Kuwait in 1974, as the then Foreign Minister of Kuwait to accompany Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to the OIC Summit in Lahore in 1974. During the visit, the two sides agreed to cooperate in various fields and to expand the scope of the partnership in the fields of trade, investments, energy and power, defence, human resources, infrastructure and in the priority sectors in the Economic Zones under Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority (BEZA) and IT parks. Expressing satisfaction at the signing of the Agreement on Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investment between Bangladesh and Kuwait, the two Prime Ministers affirmed that it would facilitate Kuwaiti investments in Bangladesh.

Government of Bangladesh and State of Kuwait has signed a number of Agreements/ MoUs in various fields including air transport, education and culture, trade and economy, technical cooperation in manpower, defence cooperation, cooperation in tourism sector, establishment of joint commission for bilateral cooperation, agreement on avoidance of double taxation and agreement on mutual exemption of prior entry visa. Personnel of the Bangladesh Armed Forces are being deputed to the State of Kuwait through an Agreement between the two Defence Ministries of both the countries signed in 1980 for the deputation of the Bangladesh Armed Forces Personnel to the State of Kuwait. A group of 250 Bangladesh Air Force personnel first came to Kuwait on deputation under the said agreement.

The military cooperation between Bangladesh and State of Kuwait is very distinctive. The bilateral military ties date back to 1990 when the Bangladeshi Forces took part in the war to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi invasion. The Bangladeshi Forces efforts during the post-gulf war period in 1991 were so memorable, especially their effective participation in inspecting and clearing the landmines that the Iraqi army planted inside Kuwait during their invasion. Bangladeshi military personnel are rebuilding Kuwait by risking their lives for the past 26 years. As many as 6,000 members of the Bangladesh Military Contingent (BMC) are working here under Kuwait Armed Forces on a project named Operation Kuwait Punarghathan (OKP), including clearing of landmines planted by Iraqi forces during the Gulf War in 1991. State of Kuwait always valued the great sacrifices of Bangladesh Army in the demining process in which more than 270 soldiers dies and 56 other wounded. Government of Bangladesh commended to further deepen the cooperation and coordination between the two Armed forces.   

The Embassy has been trying its best to explore and expand the Kuwait labour market for Bangladesh nationals. To convince the Kuwait authorities the Embassy regularly meets influential high officials in various occasions. The visiting dignitaries/high officials of Bangladesh also request the Kuwaiti authorities to recruit more manpower from Bangladesh. It is expected that Kuwait will further expand recruiting manpower from Bangladesh.

One of the major objectives of Vision 2041 of Bangladesh is to reach to the status of developed country by 2041. In this aspect, State of Kuwait contributing significantly in particular by hosting around three hundred fifty thousand Bangladeshi nationals. Our sincere thanks and respect to His Highness and His esteemed ministries and definitely the people of this great nation, Kuwait.