Bangladesh, UK sign MoU for ‘strategic dialogue’

Bangladesh and the UK have signed an MoU to hold 'strategic dialogue' on a regular basis, enhancing their bilateral relationship.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 28 March 2017, 09:22 AM
Updated : 28 March 2017, 09:22 AM

Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque and British Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Office Simon McDonald signed it on Tuesday before they started the first-ever such dialogue.

This development comes at a time when the UK is preparing to leave the European Union (EU) following the Brexit poll.

The UK is the third single largest destination for Bangladesh’s exports where all products enjoy duty-free market access following the EU’s 'everything but arms regime'.

Brexit means fresh negotiations would be needed for Bangladesh to retain the access.

The British government, however, assured Bangladesh of no adverse impact following Brexit.

British Minister for Asia and the Pacific Alok Sharma, during whose visit in early March both sides agreed to hold strategic dialogues, had pointed to opportunities for increasing trade and investment with Bangladesh even after Brexit.

 He had also said that this strategic dialogue means enhancing the formal relationships between the countries.

The visiting Permanent Under-Secretary called on Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali before the beginning of the dialogue, in which a whole range of bilateral issues would be discussed.

He handed over a letter from British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to Ali inviting him to visit UK this year.

Ali said he hoped that the strategic dialogue would be successful.

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.