ZCZC
BSS-12
BANGLADESH-BHUTAN-TALKS LEAD 2 LAST DHAKA
The foreign secretary said today’s Dhaka-Thimphu summit yielded five
memoranda of understanding (MoUs) aiming to strengthen bilateral cooperation
in the areas of health, agriculture, shipping, tourism and public
administration training.
Haque described Bangladesh ties with Bhutan to be “deep and historic” as
Thimphu was the first foreign capital to recognize Bangladesh on December 6
in 1971.
“This relationship is deeper than any other relations and our ties have
improved to a great extent over the years . . . the relations are being
deepened and widened gradually,” he said.
Haque said the trade figures between the two countries increased after the
visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Bhutan in 2017 and since then the
people-to-people contact in the field of tourism has been boosted as well.
He said the relations between the two countries are not only being
deepened, the areas in different sectors including trade, commerce and
tourism are also being widened.
The foreign secretary said the two sides discussed the regional electricity
trade as talks were already underway to produce hydropower in Bhutan and
marketing that electricity in the region while Bangladesh was keen to invest
in hydroelectricity in Bhutan.
“The discussion is at the advanced stage and we hope an agreement to this
end will be inked soon,” Haque said.
The foreign secretary said a tripartite cooperation will be made when
Bhutan-produced hydroelectricity would be marketed in India and Bangladesh.
He said Bhutan also showed interest to hire Bangladeshi specialist doctors
to cater their medical sector demands.
Sheikh Hasina said she will personally look into the matter as cooperation
between the two countries in the field of health sector was gradually
increasing with increased quota for Bhutanese students to 15 from 10 in
Bangladesh medical and nursing colleges.
Haque said the Bhutanese prime minister highly appreciated Bangladesh’s
pharmaceutical industry.
The Bhutanese prime minister, he said, also highly praised the leadership
of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Lotay, himself a doctor, simultaneously appreciated Bangladesh premier’s
daughter Saima Wazed Hossain’s huge contributions to address the issue of
autism.
BSS/SH/GMR/AR/1459 hrs