Bangladesh keen to expand ties with Asean countries: FS

GBNEWS24 DESK//

Bangladesh is keen to expand its ties with Asean countries encompassing areas like trade, investment, physical connectivity, defence cooperation and track-2 diplomacy, said Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen on Wednesday.

He sought support from the Asean countries to Bangladesh’s application for becoming a sectoral dialogue partner.

The Foreign Secretary held a virtual discussion with the Heads of Missions from different Asean countries in Dhaka through the Bangladeshi App Boithok and discussed various issues of cooperation.

This was for the first time that the foreign diplomats successfully used the virtual meeting app developed by the ICT Ministry of Bangladesh.

The Foreign Secretary welcomed the Asean ambassadors to the meeting and said Bangladesh highly values its relations with the South East Asian countries.

The Foreign Secretary also shortly briefed them on Bangladesh’s Covid-19 management and the current scenario.

The Asean ambassadors shared their respective countries’ experiences with Covid-19. They informed that Bangladesh’s application to become Asean sectoral dialogue partner is under positive consideration in their capitals. They assured Bangladesh of their full support to its bid.

Secretary (East) Ambassador Mashfee Binte Shams, Secretary (West) Ambassador Shabbir Ahmad Chowdhury and Directors General of Myanmar and South East Asia Wings also joined the meeting.