February 26, 2024
DHAKA – Asean Dhaka Committee (ADC) has assured Dhaka of backing Bangladesh’s bid to become the Sectoral Dialogue Partner of the block.
The assurance came as Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud requested the members of the ADC to support Bangladesh’s bid to become the Sectoral Dialogue Partner to the Asean preferably by next Asean Summit to be held in Vientiane in October 2024.
The ADC is an informal platform formed by the heads of missions of eight Asean countries in Dhaka — Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines and Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
They held a meeting with Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud at the ministry today and congratulated him on his new role as Bangladesh’s top diplomat.
During the meeting, the minister also suggested the heads of missions to encourage their countries’ business entities to invest in Bangladesh Economic Zones in many sectors such as pharmaceuticals, leather products.
During the meeting, the foreign minister stressed that the Asean countries should harness long-standing historical, cultural and religious linkages with Bangladesh by forging mutually beneficial economic ties.
While emphasizing Asean’s favourable trade gap with Bangladesh, he highlighted the need for enhanced role from the private sectors both at bilateral and multilateral level to reap the benefit of the immense trade and investment potentials.
The minister said Bangladesh becoming a Sectoral Dialogue Partner (SDP) to the Asean will benefit both Asean and Bangladesh through extended trade and investment engagements, enhanced people-to-people contact and exchange of best practices.
He also sought support from the members of the ADC to address the issue of initiating the repatriation process of 1.2 million Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals.