The second Vietnam-Bangladesh political consultation takes place in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka on May 14 (Photo: baoquocte.vn) The two sides briefed each other on the situation,strategies and socio-economic development orientations of each country, discussed measures to promote bilateral cooperation in all fields and compared views on regionaland international issues of shared concern.
They agreed to coordinate with each other inbuilding a long-term vision for the bilateral relations, while increasing theexchange of delegations at all levels, strengthening existing cooperationmechanisms, and considering the resumption and upgrade of the Joint Committeeon economic, cultural and science-technology cooperation.
The two sides reached consensus on strengthening collaboration in defence-security, economy-trade-investment,education, fisheries and breeding, while promoting exchange in culture andtourism.
They pledged to urge relevant ministries and sectors to review andextend their cooperation agreements, including MoUs onrice trading, fisheries and breeding, tourism cooperation, machinery manufacturing,and cultural exchange in new period, and sign new ones such as a MoU on ITcooperation and another on trade promotion.
The two sides highlighted the great potential in bilateraleconomic cooperation with Bangladesh currently the second largest trade partnerof Vietnam in South Asia. Two-way trade rose four times in 10years from about 350 million USD in 2012 to 1.5 billion USD in 2022, and is moving towards the goal of 2 billion USD set by their leaders.
The two countries will encourage ministries, sectors andbusinesses to strengthen trade promotion activities to explore each other’smarket as well as potential products and areas for cooperation, while speedingup the launching of a direct air route between the two countries.
The Bangladeshi side proposed that Vietnam considerinvestment in industrial parks and software technology parks of Bangladesh,pledging to provide attractive incentives to Vietnamese investors. The countrywelcomed Vietnam’s increased export of strong products to Bangladesh such asagricultural machineries, materials, home appliances, electronic products, andprocessed agro-fisheries products.
At the event, Vietnam and Bangladesh also discussed regionaland international issues of shared concern, including those related to climatechange, natural disaster management and mitigation, water resources and energysecurity, and migration.
They hailed the central role of the ASEAN in settlingmatters in the region. Bangladesh affirmed that it wants to strengthencooperation with ASEAN and is actively rolling out practical collaborationactivities to speed up the process of becoming a dialogue partner of theassociation in particular areas.
The two sides agreed to strengthen coordination at regionaland international forum, while supporting each other’s candidacies, and shareviewpoints and stances at development countries’ forums such as the Non-AlignedMovement, and South-South Cooperation, thus strengthening the voice, solidarityand self-reliance of regional countries.
Earlier on May 13, Deputy FM Viet paid a courtesy call to Bangladesh'sMinister of State for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam, who expressed delight at the resumption of bilateral political consultation after six years of interruption. He emphasisedthat amid many regional and international challenges, Vietnam and Bangladeshneed to strengthen cooperation, and lift up their relations to a new height inthe coming time, while coordinating more closely, strengthening mutual support inand making positive contributions to common regional and international issues./.
VNA
