Vice President of the Republic of Maldives Faisal Naseem arrived in Bangladesh on Monday on a two-day official visit to further strengthen cooperation between the two friendly nations.

A plane carrying the Maldives Vice President reached Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka at 9:15am, where he was received by his Bangladesh foreign minister AK Abdul Momen.

The areas of cooperation include connectivity, human resources, fisheries, health, tourism and climate change.

Diplomatic sources said the Vice President of Maldives came to Bangladesh at a time when the two countries are making smooth progress in their bilateral relations.

During his visit, the Vice President is expected to call on top policymakers of Bangladesh and discuss opportunities for robust maritime and air connectivity between the two countries.

Apart from connectivity, trade cooperation and a host of issues will be discussed, including employment of Bangladeshi workers in the Maldives, Bangladesh’s assistance to the Maldives in the field of healthcare, higher education as well as technical education.

The Maldives is the largest labour market for Bangladesh in South Asia. Some 90,000 Bangladeshis work there. Many of them became undocumented and some 10,000 returned home last year.

Faisal Naseem is a Maldivian politician who is Vice President of the Maldives, following the election of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on 23 September 2018. He assumed office on 17 November 2018 and succeeded the former Vice President Abdulla Jihad.