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DHAKA: Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Prof. Muhammad Yunus has proposed establishing ������Ƶ’s production sector in Bangladesh, his office said, following a meeting with the Kingdom’s newly appointed envoy to Dhaka.

Dr. Abdullah bin Abiyah presented his credentials as Saudi ambassador to Bangladesh earlier this month. He paid a visit to Yunus at the State Guest House Jamuna on Sunday.

Yunus, the Nobel Prize-winning economist who heads Bangladesh’s interim government, “proposed that ������Ƶ could consider establishing its production sector in Bangladesh by utilizing Bangladesh’s geostrategic location, cheap labor, and the country’s resources,” the Chief Adviser’s Press Wing said in a statement.

Azad Majumder, Yunus’ deputy press secretary who was present during the meeting, told Arab News that the move would be beneficial for both countries as it would “create employment opportunities for the Bangladeshi youth and offer ������Ƶ an opportunity to obtain essential goods at a better price.”

The Saudi market is already familiar with Bangladeshi workers as some 3 million of them live in the Kingdom. They are the largest expat group in the Kingdom and the biggest Bangladeshi community outside Bangladesh.

Many have been employed in the construction sector but increasingly also in professions requiring high skills. In 2023, ������Ƶ launched the Workers’ Recruitment and Skill Verification Program in Bangladesh, aiming to advance the professional competence of employees in the Kingdom’s labor market.

Yunus discussed with the Saudi envoy the prospect of increased investment in health education to support skills development in Bangladesh’s healthcare sector.

“It would also benefit the Kingdom, given the growing demand for medical professionals in ������Ƶ. In recent years, Bangladesh has sent a number of healthcare workers there,” Majumder said.

“A number of issues concerning the bilateral relationship between Bangladesh and ������Ƶ were discussed during the meeting. Prof. Yunus expressed his hope that the Saudi-Bangladesh relationship will reach new heights during Ambassador Abiyah’s tenure and pledged full support from his government to achieve this goal.”

The ambassador delivered an invitation letter from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for Yunus to attend the Future Investment Initiative Forum in Riyadh in October.

Often dubbed “Davos in the Desert,” the forum is an annual international investment and innovation conference that gathers global leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, and innovators.

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia: Thailand and Cambodia will enter into an unconditional ceasefire starting at midnight on Monday, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced.

“Both Cambodia and Thailand reached a common understanding as follows: One, an immediate and unconditional ceasefire with effect from 24 hours local time, midnight on 28th July 2025, tonight,” Anwar said after mediation talks in Malaysia.

The leaders of Cambodia and Thailand earlier arrived in Malaysia for talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in their fierce border conflict, amid an international effort to halt the fighting which entered a fifth day.

The ambassadors to Malaysia of the United States and China were also present at the meeting in Malaysia’s administrative capital of Putrajaya, the official said.

It was hosted at the residence of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the chair of the regional bloc ASEAN.

Both Thailand and Cambodia accuse the other of starting the fighting last week and then escalating the clashes with heavy artillery bombardment at multiple locations along their 817km land border, the deadliest conflict in more than a decade between the Southeast Asian neighbors.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet had earlier said the talks were co-organized by Malaysia and the United States, and that China would also take part in them.

“The purpose of this meeting is to achieve an immediate ‘ceasefire’, initiated by President Donald Trump and agreed to by the Prime Ministers of Cambodia and Thailand,” Hun Manet said in a post on X as he departed for the talks. Trump said on Sunday he believed both Thailand and Cambodia wanted to settle their differences after he told the leaders of both countries that he would not conclude trade deals with them unless they ended their fighting.

Thailand’s leader said there were doubts about Cambodia’s sincerity ahead of the negotiations in Malaysia.

“We are not confident in Cambodia, their actions so far have reflected insincerity in solving the problem,” acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told reporters ahead of his departure for Malaysia.

“Cambodia has violated international law, but everybody wants to see peace. Nobody wants to see violence that affects civilians.”

Cambodia has strongly denied Thai accusations it has fired at civilian targets, and has instead said that Thailand has put innocent lives at risk. It has called for the international community to condemn Thailand’s aggression against it.

The tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have intensified since the killing in late May of a Cambodian soldier during a brief skirmish.

Border troops on both sides were reinforced amid a full-blown diplomatic crisis that brought Thailand’s fragile coalition government to the brink of collapse.