State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat, now on a visit to Mauritius, on Wednesday urged the Indian Ocean country to invest in the special economic zone in Bangladesh.

The state minister made the call in bilateral meeting with Mauritius Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade Minister Maneesh Gobin in Port Louis, said a press release received here this afternoon.

Different bilateral issues, including trade and investments as well as the matters of anthropological and cultural cooperation were discussed in the meeting.

Arafat said, Mauritius is the gateway to the African continent. So, investment in the Indian Ocean Island would brighten Bangladesh’s business prospect in Africa.

Noting the similarities between Bangladesh and Mauritius in the areas of ethnicity and culture, Arafat said Bangladesh gives high importance to the relations between the two countries.

He urged the Mauritius government for recruiting more Bangladeshi workers and professionals and sought cooperation to allow Bangladeshi workers to send remittance easily in shortest time to the country.

Arafat invited the Mauritius foreign minister to visit Bangladesh.

Mauritius foreign minister Maneesh Gobin, conveyed congratulations to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on her victory in the January 7 elections where Mauritius had sent an observer mission.

The state minister is on a visit to Mauritius to attend the first ministerial conference on ‘Drug Trafficking and Substance Abuse in the Western Indian Ocean’ scheduled for April 25.