Bangladesh-UK first ‘strategic dialogue’ on Tuesday

The first-ever ‘strategic dialogue’ between Bangladesh and the UK will be held in Dhaka on Wednesday.

The foreign ministry said before the dialogue at the state guest house Meghna, the two foreign secretaries would sign an MOU on holding of the dialogue on a regular basis.

Permanent Under-Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Sir Simon McDonald would lead the UK side while Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque would lead the Bangladesh side.

The UK is one the largest development partners of Bangladesh. It also has substantial business interests in Bangladesh and remains the second biggest foreign investor.

Over 240 British companies are operating in sectors including retail, banking, energy, infrastructure, consultancy and education with leading centres of operation in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet.

About half a million Bangladeshi expatriates live in the UK.

Both sides agreed to hold strategic dialogue at the end of this month during UK’s Minister for Asia and the Pacific Alok Sharma’s Bangladesh visit earlier this month.

Explaining the dialogue, Sharma then told bdnews24.com that this means “enhancement of the formal relationship between our two countries”.

“There will be detail discussions regarding cooperation in three key areas – one is prosperity which includes economic exchanges, second is security issues where we can work more closely together, and the third is shared values of democracy and respect for human rights”.

This would be a “very comprehensive” discussion, he had said.