The UAE and Bangladesh in brief

The UAE is a major home for Bangladeshi workers and professionals and a regional base for traders and investors dealing with Bangladesh. Bangladesh Bank figures reported by the Dhaka Tribune show USD 4.58 billion of remittances from the UAE in 2025-26, out of USD 35.58 billion in total. Many UAE-based families own land or businesses in Bangladesh, so property and power of attorney questions are frequent.

The two governments have been negotiating a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. As at 2 September 2026 it had not been signed, and press reports described talks as progressing. Until a CEPA is signed and in force, trade between the two runs on ordinary WTO terms and each country's own tariff schedule.

Gulf-based groups often hold Bangladeshi investments through UAE companies, including free-zone entities. Whether such a company benefits from the investment treaty or the tax treaty depends on each treaty's definitions of resident and investor, so check before you structure, not after a problem arises.

Investing from the UAE: treaty protection and money flows

UNCTAD records the Bangladesh–United Arab Emirates bilateral investment treaty as signed on 17 January 2011 and in force from 5 May 2013. An older BIDA list gives 2022 as the ratification year, so confirm the date if it matters to a claim. Whether the treaty protects a given investor depends on its definitions and dispute clause, so test the holding structure against the text before committing money.

Bangladesh's Foreign Private Investment (Promotion and Protection) Act 1980 promises fair treatment, compensation for expropriation and transfer of capital and returns, but gives no consent to international arbitration. Bangladesh is a party to the ICSID Convention, so an investor-state claim needs a treaty in force or an ICSID clause in a contract.

The Invest Bangladesh Act 2026 (Act No. 104 of 2026), in force from 20 August 2026, merged BIDA, BEZA and the PPP Authority into Invest Bangladesh; industrial projects register under section 28. Authorised dealer banks remit dividends to non-resident shareholders without prior Bangladesh Bank approval.

FEID Circular No. 01 of 8 March 2026 lets share-sale proceeds leave without approval in set cases, but real estate and liquidation proceeds still need approval.

Tax: the 2011 double taxation convention

The Bangladesh–UAE convention was signed in Abu Dhabi on 17 January 2011 and is on the National Board of Revenue's list of agreements. Its text caps Bangladesh tax on dividends at 5 per cent where the beneficial owner is a company owning at least 3 per cent of the shares, and at 10 per cent otherwise. Interest and royalties are each capped at 10 per cent.

Profits from operating aircraft in international traffic are taxed only where the enterprise's effective management is. Profits from ships may also be taxed in the other state, but that tax is reduced by 50 per cent. These rules matter to airlines, shipping lines and their agents.

Relief is not automatic. A Bangladeshi payer withholds at the domestic rate under section 119 of the Income Tax Act 2023 unless the NBR issues a certificate under section 119(2) for the treaty rate, so apply before the first payment and check the current domestic rates in the Finance Act 2026.

Contracts and arbitration

The United Arab Emirates and Bangladesh are both parties to the 1958 New York Convention, which has been in force for Bangladesh since 4 August 1992 without reservations. An award made in the United Arab Emirates is a foreign award in Bangladesh.

It is enforced under section 45 of the Arbitration Act 2001 on an application to the District Judge's court in Dhaka, wherever the assets are, with the authenticated award, the arbitration agreement and certified translations (s.45(2)-(3)).

Enforcement can be refused only on the section 46 grounds, which follow Article V of the Convention. In July 2026 the High Court Division confirmed that the enforcing court cannot review the merits, and in February 2026 it held that the application must be filed within three years of the award (Limitation Act 1908, article 182).

Since the Commercial Courts Act 2026, arbitration applications go to a commercial court where one has been set up, so check which court applies.

A UAE seat such as Dubai or Abu Dhabi has one cost at home. Under the Larger Bench decision in Accom, a Bangladeshi court cannot grant interim relief under section 7A while a foreign-seated arbitration is running; relief comes only at enforcement. Where the Bangladeshi party's assets are the real target, consider a Dhaka seat, emergency arbitration, or security such as a bank guarantee before the dispute starts.

Enforcing UAE court judgments

A money judgment from the UAE is not directly enforceable in Bangladesh. Section 44A of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 allows direct execution only of money decrees from the superior courts of a reciprocating territory notified in the Gazette, and no notification covering the UAE has been confirmed. The usual route is a fresh suit in Bangladesh on the judgment, brought within six years (Limitation Act 1908, article 117).

The same applies to judgments of the onshore UAE courts and of the courts of the financial free zones. Enforcing a Bangladeshi judgment in the UAE is a question of UAE law, so take local advice there.

In that suit the foreign judgment is conclusive on matters it directly decided between the same parties, unless a section 13 exception applies: the court lacked jurisdiction, the judgment was not on the merits, it rested on an incorrect view of international law or refused to recognise Bangladeshi law where applicable, the proceedings breached natural justice, it was obtained by fraud, or it upholds a claim founded on a breach of Bangladeshi law.

A certified copy raises a presumption of jurisdiction (s.14).

Where the defendant's assets are in Bangladesh, suing here from the start, or agreeing arbitration, is often quicker than winning abroad and suing again. Commercial disputes listed in section 2 of the Commercial Courts Act 2026 go to the commercial courts.

Each party may ask for time at most three times before the final hearing (s.9(5)), and an appeal to the High Court Division lies only against the final judgment, within 60 days (s.6).

Documents and powers of attorney from the UAE

The UAE is not a party to the Apostille Convention, so UAE documents still need legalisation for use in Bangladesh: usually authentication by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then attestation by the Bangladesh mission, plus an English translation where needed. Gulf attestation chains are strict, and a document attested by the mission but not first by the UAE ministry is commonly rejected.

Sign a power of attorney before the consular officer at the Embassy in Abu Dhabi or the Consulate General in Dubai, according to where you live; ask which mission serves your emirate. Bring the unsigned power in two sets, photographs of yourself and the attorney, your passport and Emirates ID copy, the attorney's NID and, for land, the khatian and tax receipt.

Dubai lists document attestation on weekdays; confirm that it handles powers before booking.

A power signed before a UAE notary is a weaker route: it would need UAE foreign ministry authentication and the mission's attestation before it goes to Dhaka. Missions do not draft powers, so have the text prepared in Dhaka before you attend.

A power signed abroad follows Form 3 of the Power of Attorney Rules 2015 and must be sent to Bangladesh within six months of attestation (rule 10(4ka), from February 2025). After arrival, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka must attest it within two months and the Collector must stamp it within three (rule 10(5); Stamp Act 1899, s.18).

An irrevocable power to sell, mortgage or develop land must be registered (Power of Attorney Act 2012, s.6(1)); rule 10(5)(ga) allows four months from arrival to file it.

Workers, families and property

Disputes with an employer in the Gulf are governed by local law and decided there. Bangladeshi law helps with matters at home: claims against a recruiting agent, which the Overseas Employment and Migrants Act 2013 (amended in 2026) regulates, money sent to relatives, and family land. Keep copies of the contract, visa, payment receipts and messages, because these decide most claims.

Bangladeshis in the UAE who remain Bangladeshi citizens buy, inherit and sell land in Bangladesh as residents do, usually through a relative or agent holding a power of attorney. Before any purchase, check the record of rights (khatian) in each survey series, mutation into the seller's name, land development tax receipts, the chain of registered deeds and any pending suits.

A sale takes effect only by a deed registered under the Registration Act 1908.

On a death, banks and companies usually ask for a succession certificate before releasing deposits, shares or other debts, and land passes under the personal law of the deceased. Co-owners who cannot agree can bring a partition suit. If someone occupies family land without right, the remedies are a suit for recovery of possession or an injunction, and sometimes a criminal complaint.

Act early: limitation periods and delay can weaken a claim.