• Diplomatic News

Bilateral consultations between Bangladesh and Belgium held in Brussels

  • Diplomatic News
  • 09 May, 2023 08:49:06

Photo: Collected

News Desk:  The first bilateral consultations between Bangladesh and Belgium have been held at the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brussels.

The delegation of Bangladesh was headed by the Director General (Western Europe and European Union) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kazi Russell Pervez and the delegation of Belgium was headed by the Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bilateral Affairs) Ambassador Jeroen Kurman.

On Friday (May 5), the Bangladesh Embassy in Brussels said, in the meeting, bilateral and multilateral cooperation and trade and investment under regional issues, climate change, Rohingya crisis, elections in international organizations, Bangladesh-European Union relations, Indo-Pacific and Ukraine issues were fruitfully discussed.

At the beginning of the discussion, the chief ambassador of the Belgian delegation, Jeroen Kurman, highlighted the recent visit of the Belgian Queen to Bangladesh as very positive and said that this visit will further strengthen the growing relationship between Bangladesh and Belgium.  

He said that Bangladesh-Belgium relationship has now become a trade and investment based relationship instead of classical economic cooperation.  

At this time, he expressed the interest of Belgium to work with Bangladesh in various sectors including renewable energy, dredging, marine economy.  

Head of the Bangladesh delegation Kazi Russell Parvez highlighted the ongoing economic development in Bangladesh and requested more Belgian investment in Bangladesh.  

Mentioning the amount of trade between the two countries is about 1 billion dollars, he said that it is possible to increase the trade through close communication between businessmen. Highlighting various aspects of investment in Bangladesh as investment facilities, special economic zones and potential markets, he requested Belgium to invest in Bangladesh's health, technical and vocational education, energy, climate change, infrastructure development, information technology sectors.

The progress of signing a memorandum of understanding on cancer research between the Jules Borde Institute of Belgium and the National Cancer Research Institute and Hospital of Bangladesh was discussed and it was hoped that it would be signed soon.  
Besides, the two sides also agreed on increasing cooperation between the Egmont Institute of Belgium and the Foreign Service Academy of Bangladesh.

Kurman praised the generosity of Bangladesh for providing shelter to the Rohingyas in Bangladesh for many years and said that Belgium will continue its cooperation in repatriating the Rohingyas.  

At this time, the head of the Bangladesh delegation presented the latest picture of the Rohingya crisis and thanked Belgium for its political support and economic cooperation in the international arena.  

He also requested cooperation in ongoing proceedings at the International Criminal Court to prosecute those involved in the Myanmar military's involvement in the Rohingya crisis.

Bangladesh Ambassador to Belgium, Mahbub Hasan Saleh, other diplomats of the embassy and senior diplomats of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs participated in the bilateral consultations.

It is to be noted that the Memorandum of Understanding regarding Bilateral Consultations was signed on October 26, 2021 during the visit of Foreign Secretary (Senior Secretary) Masood Bin Momen to Brussels.

 

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