bahrainthismonth.com | JUNE 2025 INTERVIEW 14 Bridging Bangladesh & Bahrain As the new Ambassador of Bangladesh to Bahrain, what are your key diplomatic priorities during your tenure? Before I begin, I would like to express my utmost respect and greetings to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, His Royal Highness Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince & Prime Minister, and the people of Bahrain for their warm hospitality. My foremost priority is to elevate the already strong bilateral ties between Bangladesh and Bahrain. This includes intensifying collaboration across trade, investment and cultural exchange. A key focus will be on enhancing the welfare and image of the Bangladeshi community in Bahrain. I believe in building both professional and personal relationships. I aim to strengthen institutional linkages and finalise pending bilateral instruments to create a robust framework for future cooperation. How do you plan to enhance bilateral relations, particularly in trade, labour and culture? Today, Bangladesh’s GDP is the 35th largest in the world in nominal terms (nearly USD 470 billion), and 25th largest by purchasing power parity (USD 1.8 trillion) according to the latest statistics from the IMF. Our GDP has been witnessing a steady growth of 4-5% each year, and our exports have been between USD 40 and 50 billion for the past few years, with RMG being one of the main contributors. We have witnessed a significant growth in our international trade over the past decade. Our major trading partners include many European countries, US, China, India, and increasingly, countries in the Middle East. Trade between Bangladesh and Bahrain is estimated at around USD50 million. However, there is potential for growth since Bahrain imports nearly all goods and Bangladesh’s international trade has grown significantly. We want to diversify our export basket and increase trade volume through business-to-business engagements and addressing trade barriers. Bangladesh is well positioned to meet the needs of the Bahraini market and neighbouring countries. Also, Bahrain’s FTA with the US presents an opportunity for Bangladesh to use Bahrain as a route to the American market. Our economy has demonstrated sustained growth in recent years, thereby fostering a favourable environment for both import and export activities. We are particularly proud of our growing RMG sector, which is still the second largest in the world. We remain optimistic about the prospect of achieving the top global ranking in RMG, especially considering the current trade dynamics, including the imposition of high tariffs on China by the US, a nation that is one of our largest importers of RMG and textiles. Moreover, our growing agricultural and pharmaceutical industries are also ripe for collaboration. We are global exporters of various agricultural goods and pharmaceutical products, and we are very keen to begin exporting them to Bahrain as well. In this exclusive interview with Kristian Harrison, His Excellency Md. Rais Hasan Sarower, Ambassador of Bangladesh to Bahrain, reflects on a distinguished career that includes postings in Turkey, Malaysia, Italy and the UAE; and discusses the current state of relations between the two nations.
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