Acting Speaker Barrister Kaysar Kamal and Nepal’s Ambassador to Bangladesh Ghanshyam Bhandari on Wednesday expressed optimism that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) could be revitalised to advance the shared development goals of the region.

The two leaders expressed the hope during Nepal Ambassador’s courtesy meeting at the Acting Speaker’s office at the Jatiya Sangsad.

Kaysar Kamal said SAARC, founded on the vision of the late President Ziaur Rahman, still has the potential to play a meaningful role in promoting regional cooperation and development if member states work together to make the organisation functional again, said a press release.

He called upon Nepal to take an active role in efforts to revitalise the regional bloc, a proposal that the Nepali envoy supported.

Welcoming the formation of the Bangladesh-Nepal Parliamentary Friendship Group in Nepal’s Federal Parliament, the Acting Speaker thanked Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal for the initiative.

He expressed hope that the Bangladesh National Parliament would soon establish a Bangladesh-Nepal Parliamentary Friendship Group to facilitate exchanges on issues of mutual interest.

Kaysar Kamal said an effective parliamentary friendship group would help strengthen parliamentary diplomacy, enhance bilateral relations, promote exchanges of parliamentary delegations, share experiences in legislation and good governance, and expand cooperation on matters of common interest in international forums.

Referring to Bangladesh’s import of electricity from Nepal, he said both countries have significant opportunities to broaden cooperation in education, culture, youth exchanges, people-to-people contacts, water resources, energy, regional connectivity, trade and climate change.

Ambassador Bhandari praised Bangladesh’s new journey under the leadership of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and reaffirmed Nepal’s commitment to working more closely with the country’s democratic government.

He also commended Bangladesh’s progress on various development indicators after graduating from the least developed country (LDC) category and expressed confidence that the country would successfully complete its UN LDC graduation process within the stipulated timeframe.