Dubai: Three Bangladeshi residents from the same family have been granted UAE 10-year Gold Visa.
Dubai based Bangladeshi businessmen M. Mahtabur Rahman, M. Oliur Rahman and M. Emadur Rahman from Al Hamrain Group of Companies have received the long term Gold Visa recently.
M. Oliur Rahman, Vice-Chairman of Al Haramain Group and M. Emadur Rahman, Deputy Managing Director of Al Haramain Group, received UAE Gold Visa on August 6, 2019, a few weeks after M. Mahtabur Rahman, Chairman of Al Haramain Group was awarded the UAE Gold Visa on June 17, 2019.
With this, five Bangladeshi expatriates have so far been awarded Gold Visa, the other two being Mahbubul Alam Manik, a Dubai-based industrialist, and Akhter Hossain, a Ras Al Khaimah-based businessman with interests in real estate and retail activities.
Bangladeshi nationals own more than 50,000 businesses in the UAE and employ more than 150,000 people – making them one of the largest business communities in the UAE.
Mahtabur Rahman and Oliur Rahman are brothers while Emadur Rahman is the son of Mahtabur Rahman – all run separate group companies while all of them are working closely in the group’s holding company as business leaders. Each of them has been awarded Gold Visa separately for their own investment and business leadership.
Each of them are shareholders in three separate banks in Bangladesh, while M. Mahtabur Rahman, wears many hats in addition to being Chairman and Managing Director of Al Haramain Group. He is also Chairman of NRB Bank Ltd (Bangladesh) and President of Bangladesh Business Council in Dubai, UAE.
M. Mahtabur Rahman is the first Non-Resident Bangladeshi to have been awarded a UAE Gold Visa, as per the latest announcement by the UAE government to extend the honour to distinguished investors, highly-skilled professionals and scientists. The recognition comes as Al Haramain Group celebrates 38 years of its presence in the UAE.
“It is a rare feat and we are all honoured and privileged to receive this great honour, I don’t know how to express my feelings. We shifted our business to the UAE from Saudi Arabia 38 years ago. Since then, our business thrived and today we are some of the lucky families in this country,” Mahtabur Rahman, Chairman of Al Haramain Group, said.
“The Gold Visa is an honour for me, my family and my country Bangladesh. This will encourage us to investment more in to the UAE economy and help the UAE economy expand more. We are grateful to the leadership and people of the UAE for allowing us great economic opportunity and honour.”
Upon receiving the Gold Visa, all the three recipients, from the same family, have expressed their sincere gratitude to the UAE leadership for recognising their investment and contribution to the economy of the country.
M. Oliur Rahman, Vice-Chairman of Al Haramain Group, said: “We have always maintained our firm belief in the UAE economy and the country’s leadership. Today, we have been rewarded for our belief, conviction and resolve.”
Mohammed Mahtabur Rahman is a seasoned businessman and involved in a broad range of business and trade ventures around the world. A far-sighted person, he has diversified business interests in perfumery, banking, healthcare, education tea, and hospitality, etc.
His group owns Al Haramain Perfumes, one of the largest fragrance manufacturers in the Middle East region, Al Haramain Tea Co Ltd and Al Haramain Hospital Pvt Ltd.
M. Emadur Rahman, 31, is the third generation in the family business, who looks after the day to day business affairs of the group.
Al Haramain Group, which has diversified business interests in perfumes, tea, banking, education, healthcare and hospitality sectors, currently owns more than 20 business establishments across the GCC, Bangladesh, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, United States and other countries with more than 100 branches directly employing more than 1,000 professionals and employees.
Al Haramain Group was established as a small business in the city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia in 1970. The company entered UAE market in 1981. Later it shifted its operations and head office to the UAE.
The family hails from the north eastern Sylhet district of Bangladesh and currently owns Al Haramain Hospital Pvt Ltd – the largest healthcare facility in Sylhet – spreading across an area of 120,000 square feet to provide better healthcare services to the needy.
British national gets five-year visa
Meanwhile, British national Mahesh Dalamal, managing partner of Creative Zone, received a five-year visa on Thursday. “I’m honoured to receive a long-term visa and sincerely thank the authorities in the UAE,” he said.
The UAE Gold Card
The ‘Gold Card’ entitles a resident for 10-year-visa, It encompassed three categories as per decree No. 56 of 2018 regarding regulation of residency permits for investors, entrepreneurs and special talents issued by the Council of Ministers.
Investors investing at least Dh10 million would qualify for 10-year visas, while entrepreneurs and special talents would be entitled to five-year residency.
The first recipients of these visas were unveiled in May and include 6,800 expatriates from over 70 countries with combined investments in the UAE totalling Dh100 billion. His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced the rolling out of the first batch of visas late last month.
Hundreds of UAE based businessmen and investors have so far got UAE Gold Card during the last three months.
