Bangladesh has supported Dubai of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to win its bid to become the venue for World Expo 2020. In the second and the third round of voting in Paris on Wednesday, Bangladesh supported the UAE, said sources concerned.
Dubai finally won the vote in the third round beating the Russian city of Ekaterinburg, Izmir of Turkey and Sao Paulo of Brazil.
In the first round of the voting, Dhaka voted for the Russian city of Ekaterinburg, a decision described by many as detrimental for Bangladesh-UAE relations with particular reference to resumption labour visa issue.
A senior foreign ministry official told The Independent, “As we had pledged to the Russians, we voted for Ekaterinburg in the first round. For the second and third round we were not pledge-bound. So, we voted for the UAE.”
“We have already conveyed to the UAE authorities of our support for the Dubai’s bid and they appear to be happy,” he said. UAE Ambassador to Dhaka Dr Saeed Bin Hajar Al-Shehi made a courtesy call on the new Foreign Minister at the latter’s office on Thursday and the minister congratulated the envoy on Dubai’s success, said the official.
He also said that Dhaka has urged the UAE to resume the issuance of labour visas, suspended since Oct 2012, so that Bangladeshi workforce can contribute in preparing for the mega event in Dubai in 2020.
-With The Independent input
