Bangladesh signs land allocation deal for embassy in Abu Dhabi

Bangladesh signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) regarding the allocation of plots for constructing a permanent complex for Bangladesh Embassy in Abu Dhabi and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to form a joint consular committee comprising officials of both countries.

The Ambassador of Bangladesh to the United Arab Emirates Md Abu Zafar and the UAE Ambassador to Bangladesh Abdullah Ali Al Hamoudi signed the agreement and MoU on behalf of their respective sides at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, reads a press release.

Senior officials of the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Bangladesh Embassy were present on the occasion.

Through the protocol on allotment of plots for embassies, the UAE government has allotted a plot of 5,515 square meters in the new diplomatic zone for the construction of the Bangladesh Embassy complex in Abu Dhabi.

It is to be noted that the Bangladesh government allocated a plot in Baridhara for the UAE Embassy in Dhaka in 2014, in exchange for which in January 2020, the UAE government allocated a plot of 4,246 square meters for the Bangladesh Embassy in Abu Dhabi.

But as this land was considered insufficient for the construction of a large embassy building and other necessary facilities for providing consular and welfare services to the large number of expatriates living in the UAE comfortably, the embassy requested the UAE government to allocate a large plot in 2021.

In view of this, the UAE government allotted the new plot, which is about one Bigha larger in size than the earlier allotted plot, adds the release.

After the completion of the infrastructure development of the new diplomatic zone, the UAE authorities will hand over the plot to the embassy and on priority basis, the permanent embassy complex will be constructed which will include the embassy, ambassador’s residence, auditorium and other necessary infrastructure.

Besides, as part of the MoU, a high-powered Joint Consular Committee will be formed under the leadership of the Foreign Ministries of Bangladesh and UAE comprising various government officials.

This committee will sit in meetings on a regular basis and work with the aim of speeding up consular and welfare services for citizens of their own country living in other countries and resolving pending cases and other related consular problems through mutual discussion and cooperation.

They may also form one or more sub-committees if necessary to carry out the activities of the committee.