Bangladesh and Jordan are tied together by common faith, common aspirations for peace, economic development and women’s empowerment, said Dhaka’s ambassador in Amman Nahida Subhan.

In an interview with The Jordan Times on the occasion of Bangladesh’s Independence Day, the ambassador extended her greetings to the Jordanian people on their celebration of the Centenary of the founding of the Jordanian state.

"Jordan was among the first nations from this region to recognise Bangladesh after our independence in 1971. As for Bangladesh, we have always been very politically supportive of Jordan internationally. We are in support of the Hashemite custodianship of the holy sites of Jerusalem,” Subhan said.

Even though, there have not been much frequent high level visits between the two countries, the envoy highlighted two important visits that "bear evidence that in times of need the two countries stand by each other”.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid a visit to Jordan on February 16, 1999 to pay respect to King Hussein who passed away on February 7. She met His Majesty King Abdullah at that time. In 2017, Her Majesty Queen Rania visited Bangladesh after the influx of Undocumented Myanmar Nationals — the Rohingyas — from Myanmar to Bangladesh, the ambassador noted.

The key areas of cooperation between the two countries are trade, circular migration and defence, the ambassador said.

Elaborating on economic ties, the ambassador exuded confidence that in the coming days the two countries will be able to increase their cooperation in a stronger and more diverse way.

In terms of the trade relations between the two countries, the balance is tilted remarkably in favour of Jordan, the ambassador said.

During the period between July 2019 and June 2020, exports from Bangladesh to Jordan were worth $10.61 million while exports from Jordan to Bangladesh were worth $20.49 million, she said. 

"Interestingly, the COVID-19 pandemic has not impacted the bilateral trade negatively,” the envoy said.

Furthermore, investors from each country can explore the opportunities created for investment in the other country, Subhan said.

"In fact, there is a lot more that can be done in terms of economic cooperation between the two countries. If we talk about development partnership, neither of the countries are development partners to each other,” the ambassador said.

However, there is considerable amount of trade going on between the two countries, she said.

"I would like to mention that Jordan hosts about  50,000 Bangladeshi workers in the industrial zones who are directly contributing in the economy of the country. That is a good way of cooperation,” the ambassador noted.

According to a projection made by the UK based Centre for Economics and Business Research, Bangladesh’s economy will be the 28th largest in the world in 2030. Bangladesh is projected to become the 24th largest economy by 2033, the ambassador said.

The success of the IT industry is central to the ongoing economic growth of Bangladesh. It exports technology products worth nearly $1 billion every year. The services sector currently makes up 53 per cent of the country’s GDP, she added.

"To reap benefit out of the various investment friendly and business friendly policies and activities ongoing in Jordan and Bangladesh, it is important to have high level visits between the two countries, which may include business community members and potential investors,” Subhan said.

The two countries enjoy good relations and cooperation on issues of common interest globally and also on regional issues.

"In particular, with regard to the situation of Palestine, global and regional peace and protracted refugee situations, both countries share similar views. Hence, globally, and in particular in multilateral fora like the UN, both in New York and in Geneva, the two countries coordinate and work together on several such issues of common interest,” she said.

Bangladesh’s support to the Palestinians is "clear and unequivocal from the very beginning of our independence”, she said.

"Our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from his own experience realised the plight of occupation and the suffering of Palestinians. Our support to Palestine emanates from the very specific policy guideline that was laid down by him. In his speech at the UNGA in 1974, he strongly called for the complete evacuation of all illegally occupied territories and for restoring the legitimate rights of the people of Palestine,” the ambassador said.

 "We firmly believe that lasting and viable peace in the region cannot be achieved until the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people are recognised. We, therefore, join the international community in demanding the establishment of an independent and sovereign state of Palestine with the 1967 borders,” she added.

The two countries cooperate with each other under the umbrella of the OIC (the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) and also as individual member states of the UN. The two nations cooperate and support each other also in the UN on refugee issues as both countries host a huge number of refugees, according to the ambassador.

"We were extremely grateful for the visit of Her Majesty Queen Rania to Bangladesh in 2017 when she met with the Undocumented Myanmar Nationals, the Rohingyas living in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh,” Subhan said.

Cooperation in the tourism sector also holds very promising prospects, she said.

Jordan hosts a number of key archaeological sites from some of the oldest civilisations in the world. The Kingdom also is host to a number of key religious sites, she said.

"Apparently, a lot of Bangladeshi tourists do not know about it. The important sites in Jordan can easily attract tourists from Bangladesh. However, it needs to be facilitated. Bangladesh on the other hand, offers lush green touristic spots and also the longest undivided sandy sea beach, which can be an attractive tourist spot for Jordanians,” she said.

The envoy also said that both nations also have similar views and cooperation on fighting terrorism.

"We believe that no act of terrorism should be condoned because of its methods or objectives, neither should terrorism be associated with any religion, nationality, civilisation or ethnic group. Islam — a religion of peace — condones all forms of terrorism,” she said.

"As for Jordan, its geopolitical location makes it extremely challenging. But Jordan has been able to strongly counter terrorism.  Its national strategy on preventing violent extremism is noteworthy,” the ambassador said.