Bangladesh and France have reiterated interest in expanding bilateral trade and exploring potentials for investment in quality and resilient infrastructure development in Bangladesh, including in the railway sector. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron expressed the hope that the Bangladesh-France Investment Summit — to be held on October 23 and 25, 2023 — in Paris and Toulouse would inject a new impetus to the bilateral trade and investment relations. "Thank you, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and the people of Bangladesh for such a warm welcome. Our friendship is long-standing and unbreakable," President Macron said. Read: Partnership for resilience and prosperity: Dhaka, Paris want joint efforts for result-oriented COP28 in Dubai France expressed its confidence in the economic prospects offered by Bangladesh for shared growth and inclusive development. Both sides recalled the depth of their economic partnership, spanning every sector from industry to services, and expressed willingness to further deepen and widen it through business-to-business collaboration, according to a joint statement issued on Monday. France lauded the adoption of the National Action Plan on the labour sector of Bangladesh (2021-2026) and stressed the importance of its implementation and the diversification of Bangladesh’s economy in order to facilitate a smooth and sustainable transition under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) of the European Union. Read: Bangladesh, France sign €184 credit facility deal to support urban governance, infrastructure improvement Building on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to France in November 2021, at her invitation, President Emmanuel Macron paid a bilateral visit to Bangladesh on September 10-11, 2023. The President of France and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh met on Monday in Dhaka to give a strong impetus to the bilateral relations, and stated their common conviction to develop a trusted and meaningful partnership fostering strategic autonomy — in support of global peace and security, resilience and prosperity, and people-centric connectivity. Bangladesh and France committed to launch regular high-level dialogues to deepen the strategic dimension of their partnership. Read: France happy with Bangladesh’s commitment for acquisition of 10 A350 from Airbus

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and visiting French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday held talks aimed at taking the bilateral relations to a strategic engagement. The two countries are seeking to open new areas of cooperation, particularly in strategic assets and advanced technologies. On arrival at the Tiger gate of the Prime Minister’s Office at 10:20am, Sheikh Hasina received President Macron. Read: France respects Bangladesh's sovereign policy independence: PM Hasina says after talks with President Macron The two leaders joined the delegation-level talks and restricted-level talks at Chameli hall and Shimul hall of the Prime Minister’s Office, respectively. A couple of bilateral instruments (agreements/MoUs) will be signed in presence of the two leaders at Karobi Hall. Then PM Hasina and President Macron will hold a joint press briefing there. Read: ‘France will be, again, on your side’ Macron will sign the visitor’s book before Hasina sees him off at the Tiger gate. Macron, the first French president visiting Bangladesh in 33 years, arrived here in Dhaka on Sunday evening from India after attending the G20 summit in New Delhi. The French leader is scheduled to leave Dhaka at 2pm today (on Monday). Francois Mitterrand was the last French president to visit Bangladesh on 22-24 February, 1990. Read: Talks between PM Hasina and French President Macron end Total trade between Bangladesh and France soared from 210M€ to 4.9 billion€ today with France being the 5th country for exports. French companies are now involved in various sectors including engineering, energy, aerospace and water sectors.