Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence Ganabhaban on Friday. In the meeting, the visiting minister stressed the shipping and air connectivity between the two countries to boost trade relations and enhance people-to-people contacts, said a press release of PMO press wing. The prime minister thanked him for attending the 22nd Ministerial Meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) held in Dhaka.  Hasina wished good luck and speedy economic recovery of Sri Lanka. Read more: PM rules out Sri Lanka-like crisis in Bangladesh While discussing regional and multilateral cooperation,  Hasina pointed out that the prolonged presence of more than one million forcibly displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar poses a serious threat to the overall socio-economy, environment, and security architecture in Bangladesh and the entire region. She sought Sri Lanka’s support for the sustainable, safe, and voluntary repatriation of these forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals, Rohingyas, to their ancestral land in Rakhine State, Myanmar. The PM also discussed the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the regional economy. The Sri Lankan foreign minister expressed his admiration for the charismatic leadership of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and commended recent socio-economic development and stability achieved by Bangladesh under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He underscored that Sri Lankans are interested in investing in Bangladesh and invited investment from Bangladesh. Ali Sabry conveyed an invitation on behalf of his government to the prime minister to visit Colombo at a mutually convenient time. Read more: Comparing Bangladesh with Sri Lanka is unfortunate: Principal Secretary The meeting ended in a positive tone with a pledge to continue the friendly cooperation between the two countries in the days ahead.

Visiting State Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ahmed bin Ali Al Sayegh called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday. During the meeting held at Ganabhaban, the state minister requested more cooperation from Bangladesh to expand the air connection between Bangladesh and the UAE, said a press release of PMO press wing. He also said the UAE is interested in strengthening cooperation with Bangladesh for the alliance of mangrove initiative, aforestation, renewable energy, floating based solar energy, food processing, agriculture, and investment. Ahmed thanked Sheikh Hasina for her government’s warm hospitality extended to his delegation during the IORA Ministerial meeting held in Dhaka on 23-24 November 2022. Read more: Bangladesh seeks wider cooperation with UAE He expressed his satisfaction with the arrangement of a very productive meeting of IORA by Bangladesh as the present Chairman of IORA. The UAE state minister highlighted that under the chairmanship of Bangladesh, IORA would be more integrated and effective. He mentioned that next year the UAE would host COP 28 and requested Bangladesh’s participation in it. Ahmed also appreciated the priority of Sheikh Hasina’s government on agriculture and poverty alleviation. The PM appreciated the excellent arrangement of the UAE during Expo 2020 held in Dubai. Read more: First Bangladesh-UAE consular consultations held She expressed that the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and UAE would be further strengthened in the coming days.

Bangladesh and Kenya have agreed to develop cooperation in contract farming, air connectivity, blue economy and food security. The countries also want to strengthen cooperation between their investment authorities apart from exploring opportunities in technical exchanges, education sector and youth cooperation. A 10-member delegation led by Moi Lemoshira, additional secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kenya, joined the first foreign office consultations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Bangladesh on Sunday. The delegation will also have meetings with government agencies and apex chambers and visit export processing zones and manufacturing industries in Bangladesh. It comprises the additional secretary of the foreign ministry, the high commissioner of Kenya in New Delhi and other officials of the Kenyan government. Read: Bangladesh, Kenya sign 2 MoUs The consultations held at the Foreign Service Academy were presided over by Mashfee Binte Shams, secretary (east) of MoFA, and Lemoshira. During the foreign office consultations, Lemoshira mentioned that the consultations will help identify new areas of cooperation and strengthen the existing relations. He said apart from diplomatic ties, the necessities of augmenting relations in trade and economic areas are being increasingly felt. Mashfee Binte Shams said there may be exchanges of knowledge and training in agriculture, IT, women empowerment and UN peacekeeping. She also highlighted the importance of the exchange of trade delegations. The Kenyan side expressed interest to initiate cooperation between the foreign service academies of the two countries. Lemoshira emphasised establishing joint economic cooperation and signing joint trade agreements. Both sides also pledged to continue cooperation at bilateral and multilateral platforms like the UN, the Commonwealth and the Indian Ocean Rim Association. At the end of the meeting, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen and Lemoshira signed agreements on bilateral political consultations and cooperation between foreign service academies.

Bangladesh and Austria have inked a key pact to boost bilateral aviation business and increase air connectivity between the two countries. Read:76th UNGA session: Bangladesh elected vice-president Bangladesh Ambassador to Austria Muhammad Abdul Muhith and Ambassador Andreas Riecken from the Austrian Ministry of European & International Affairs signed the Air Services Agreement (ASA) on behalf of their respective countries in Vienna on Monday. The ASA between Bangladesh and Austria is expected not only to boost the aviation business for the two countries, but also to increase the business-to-business and people-to-people connectivity, according to the Bangladeshi side. Read:76th UNGA session: Maldives elected president, Bangladesh VP The agreement will also help turn Vienna into a regional hub for Central, Eastern and Northern European countries, including Scandinavia, thanks to its unique location, for transportation of goods and passengers between Bangladesh and the region, a release said.  In particular, both the countries expect that this agreement will expedite the process of passenger and cargo flights to and from Dhaka in near future and expand business opportunities between the two countries. Read:Greater efforts sought from envoys to enhance trade with Asean    

Bangladesh and the Maldives have underscored the need to have robust maritime and air connectivity between the two countries.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Md Mahbub Ali has disclosed a plan to launch direct air connectivity between  Sylhet and Chattogram (CTG), extending to tourism hotspot Cox’s Bazar (CXB), by June.

Speakers at a roundtable here on Tuesday night highlighted the importance of connectivity to give a big boost to tourism, ensuring continuation of its growing contribution to the economy.