Bangladesh and Malaysia have held highly productive discussions on labour market cooperation, with both sides exchanging views on expanding employment opportunities, manpower exports and strengthening bilateral collaboration.

High-level meetings between the two countries were held on Tuesday and Wednesday at Malaysia's Ministry of Human Resources in Putrajaya, the country's administrative capital, according to a message received here today.

Bangladesh's Adviser to the Prime Minister, Mahdi Amin, and Adviser to the Ministries of Labour and Employment and Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, Ariful Haque Choudhury, held talks with Malaysia's Minister of Human Resources, Dato' Sri Ramanan, the message added.

The discussions focused on a range of important issues related to the labour market, manpower exports, employment expansion, workers' welfare and labour migration.

The meetings were attended by senior officials of Malaysia's Ministry of Human Resources, representatives of relevant agencies and stakeholders associated with the labour market.

The two sides also exchanged views on further strengthening bilateral cooperation, expanding existing opportunities in the labour market and elevating relations on issues of mutual interest to a new level.

Adviser Ariful and Prime Minister's Office Spokesperson Mahdi Amin are currently visiting Malaysia on a three-day official tour.

On the first day of the visit, Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim held an important telephone conversation.

During the conversation, both leaders underscored the importance of strengthening Bangladesh-Malaysia bilateral relations through enhanced cooperation in energy, investment, port development and economic collaboration.

The talks also included detailed discussions on Malaysia's support for supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Bangladesh through the state-owned energy company PETRONAS, the progress of investment activities by Axiata Group Berhad, prospects for a strategic partnership, and potential cooperation with MMC Corporation Berhad in the port and infrastructure sectors.