DHAKA, March 5, 2020 (BSS) – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today put emphasis on formation of a Joint Economic Commission between Bangladesh and Algeria for bolstering cooperation in the fields of trade and commerce between the two countries.
The prime minister expressed this view when newly-appointed Algerian Ambassador in Dhaka Rabah Larbi paid a courtesy call on her at her official Ganabhaban residence here this evening.
After the meeting, PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters.
The press secretary said both the prime minister and the Algerian envoy stressed the need for enhancing trade and economic ties between the two countries.
He said Rabah Larbi highly appreciated Bangladesh’s tremendous socioeconomic development under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The Algerian ambassador hoped that Bangladesh will be turned into a developed country one day, he said.
In this connection, the prime minister highlighted her government’s strides for developing the country.
Sheikh Hasina said her government is establishing 100 special economic zones across the country for more industrialization and attracting local and foreign investment.
The prime minister said Algeria all the time extended support to Bangladesh since its War of Liberation.
Sheikh Hasina recalled the visit of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to Algeria in 1973 to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Algiers.
She also remembered her visit to Algeria in 1984 to join the Afro-Asia Solidarity Conference there.
The Algerian ambassador presented to the prime minister a photo album containing the photographs of Bangabandhu’s meetings with other world leaders during the 1973 NAM summit.
PM’s Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus was present on the occasion.
Earlier, International Criminal Court lawyer Professor Payam Akhavan paid a courtesy call on the premier at the same place.
Akhavan is an internationally-reputed lawyer and a professor at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
Born in Tehran, Prof Akhavan is a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague.