Speaker invites Swedish companies to extract oil and gas from the Bay of Bengal

Sweden’s Ambassador to Bangladesh Mr. Nicholas Weeks paid a courtesy call on Speaker of the National Parliament Mr. Hafiz Uddin Ahmed. During the meeting, the Speaker invited Swedish companies to extract oil and gas from the Bay of Bengal. The meeting took place yesterday at the Speaker’s office in the National Parliament.

The two sides discussed many issues of mutual interest in detail. These included stronger parliamentary ties between the two countries, forming a parliamentary friendship group, more trade and investment, and cooperation in sports and culture.

Mr. Ahmed said Sweden has long worked as one of the most trusted development partners of Bangladesh. He praised the Swedish parliamentary system. He said the Swedish system has one chamber and is a representative democracy, and it shares many similarities with the parliamentary structure of Bangladesh.

He said a parliamentary friendship group between Bangladesh and Sweden would play a very important role in growing and spreading parliamentary democracy in both countries.

Speaking about the commitment of the people to democracy, the Speaker said the people of Bangladesh have always loved democracy. He said they have never hesitated to give their lives in the struggle for democracy and rights.

Mr. Ahmed said the autocratic rule of the past 17 years took away the basic right to vote from the people. He said students and ordinary people ended that rule through the historic mass uprising of 2024.

Speaking about the future of parliamentary democracy, the Speaker said the government is creating an environment where people can freely vote for the party and candidate of their choice. He said voters act as the main driving force of parliamentary democracy when they use their democratic right to vote.

Ambassador Weeks described the Swedish system of government and parliament. He said the Swedish parliament has 349 seats in total. He said the people directly elect members for a term of four years.

He said Sweden is formally a constitutional monarchy. But the parliament and the elected government hold all political and administrative power to run the state.

Both leaders stressed forming a parliamentary friendship group and a caucus to bring the parliaments of the two countries closer. They also discussed sports, culture and the chance of more Swedish investment in Bangladesh.

The Speaker also briefed the ambassador on the work and progress of the ongoing constitutional reform committee. He then called on experienced and leading Swedish companies to come forward and invest. He asked them to extract oil and gas, the key natural resources in the exclusive economic zone of Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal.