DHAKA Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina leaves on today for Kuwait to sign a deal to send more Bangladeshi workers to the oil-rich Persian Gulf state and improve trade ties, officials said on Sunday.
"The visit will be marked by signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on exporting man power," Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad told reporters.
Foreign Ministry officials said Sheikh Hasina would also discuss bilateral relations, including trade, Islamic issues and a possible extradition treaty with Kuwait during the three-day visit.
Nearly 200,000 Bangladeshis were forced to return home after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. Bangladesh contributed troops to the U.S.-led, Saudi-based international force that eventually drove the Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991.
At least 160,000 Bangladeshis have since returned to work in Kuwait.
About two million Bangladeshis working abroad, mostly in Saudi Arabia, send home more than $2 billion annually, according to official figures.
Azad said Kuwait had suspended taking in foreign workers a year ago, apparently to facilitate more employment for its own people.
(Reuter)