Bangladesh, Thailand discuss bilateral issues

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and his Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai have discussed bilateral issues in Bangkok on the sidelines of the 26th ASEAN Regional Forum.

During Thursday's meeting, Momen said the Bangladesh government attaches “highest priority” to maintain good relations with its neighbours, the foreign ministry said.

The ministers were happy about the bilateral relations.

Momen accentuated on increasing bilateral trade and investment and collaboration in different areas.

He thanked the Thai government for supporting the initiative of the establishment of Bangabandhu Chair PhD fellowship at Asian Institute of Thailand and stressed making the best use of this mechanism.

He solicited Pramudwinai's support for Thai investment in Bangladesh, particularly in agro- based industries.

Both foreign ministers agreed to promote and facilitate more interactions among the businessmen from both sides.

On the Rohingya issue, Momen mentioned that Bangladesh has a lot of expectations from Thailand as the current chair of ASEAN to resolve this issue.

He sought Thai help for early repatriation of Rohingyas in safety and security.

He also highlighted the negative impact of the presence of these large number of Rohingyas on the host community and the potential security risk they pose to the entire region.

The Thai foreign minister said his country will continue working to resolve the issue, the foreign ministry said.