UK to ‘intensify’ relations with Bangladesh after Brexit: Boris Johnson

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has assured Bangladesh of doing more business even after the Brexit when the UK leaves the European Union.

“Once we are leaving the EU we want to intensify our bilateral relations and will do more trade together,” he said, making a brief statement after his meeting with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali on Friday night at the state guesthouse Padma.

Johnson, the leading campaigner for Brexit, arrived in Dhaka on Friday afternoon to learn the Rohingya plight.

He discussed bilateral issues during the meeting with his counterpart in Dhaka.

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'.

But Brexit means fresh negotiations would be needed for Bangladesh to retain the access and it has triggered concerns. The British ministers who recently visited Bangladesh, however, sought to dispel those concerns.

Johnson said its “wonderful” to be here in Dhaka on his first-ever visit.

He termed the relations “incredibly warm” and said, “It’s hard to overstate the cultural, commercial and personal links between the countries.”

The former London mayor said they are also “proud” to have 500, 000 British of Bangladesh origin.

He congratulated the government for the way it handled the Rohingya issue which he said was the “biggest humanitarian crisis of we have seen in the last decade.”

Johnson said he and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina discussed almost all issues of bilateral relations in a meeting earlier in the evening after his arrival.

He said they talked about the importance of “free press and free and fair elections”.

“We are also delighted that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be coming to our Commonwealth summit in April,” he said.