His Excellency Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awar, UAE Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, met with His Excellency Shafiqur Rahaman Chowdhury, Minister of State for Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment of Bangladesh, and His Excellency Muktesh Pardeshi, Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs of India, overseeing India’s relations with the Gulf, West Asia, and North Africa regions, on the sidelines of the Seventh Abu Dhabi Dialogue (ADD) Ministerial Consultation, which took place in Dubai as part of the World Government Summit 2024.

The meetings discussed bilateral relations, particularly in areas of labour mobility, skills development, and the adoption of technological processes to strengthen labour market relations between all parties, given India and Bangladesh’s role as leading labour-sending countries, while the UAE ranks among the world’s primary destination for workers coming from the two countries.

The meetings discussed takeaways from the Seventh ADD Ministerial Consultation, and ways to develop bilateral and multilateral partnerships under the umbrella of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue, which was established in 2008 as a voluntary consultative mechanism that aims to provide a public platform for dialogue on best practices between labour-sending and receiving countries in the Asia-corridor.

ADD aims to support bilateral and regional collaboration, as well as maximise benefits and advantages for workers, employers, and the economies of labour-sending and receiving countries.

As host of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue’s Permanent Secretariat, the UAE organised the seventh edition of the ADD earlier this week, bringing together representatives from 16 labour-sending and receiving countries, along with officials from key international organisations, observing countries, institutions form the private sector and civil society, as well as experts and researchers.