Finance
FTA | Dhaka-Phnom Penh Dhaka-Phnom Penh ink FTA agreement to strengthen trade cooperation
Dhaka, September 23: Bangladesh and Cambodia have agreed to a free trade agreement (FTA) to expand the area of commercial cooperation between the two countries. It is going to be signed as the Prime Ministers of both the countries have agreed on this.
At the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen agreed to a free trade agreement in a bilateral meeting on Thursday night. Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen informed the press during a briefing on Thursday (September 22) regarding the activities of the Prime Minister.
The foreign minister said that when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her interest in signing an FTA with Cambodia, the Cambodian Prime Minister agreed to the proposal. Besides, various issues of bilateral cooperation between Dhaka and Phnom Penh were discussed.
At that time, the Prime Minister of Cambodia showed interest in an agreement regarding the export of rice from his country to Bangladesh. At the same time, he invited Bangladesh to invest in agriculture and health infrastructure development sectors in Cambodia. Besides, he assured Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that Cambodia, as the ASEAN president country, will continue its all-out efforts to solve the Rohingya crisis.
In addition, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina can help migrant-sending countries by promulgating effective recommendations to address the challenges at the International Organization for Migration (IOM). These countries are facing various problems due to pandemic coronavirus and war in Ukraine. The Prime Minister said this while meeting IOM Director General Antonio Vitorino in the 'Bilateral Meeting Room'.
Later, the Prime Minister held another bilateral meeting with Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu. Various issues of bilateral cooperation between Bangladesh and Kosovo were discussed in the meeting. Also, Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Unity Council paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the same place. At that time, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam was also present there.
