Bangladesh FM Momen to visit France, Germany next month

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen is set to visit France and Germany next month.

The foreign ministry said the minister confirmed the tour at separate meetings with a German business delegation and new French Ambassador Jean-Marin Schuh on Thursday.

During the visit, he will meet his French and German counterparts along with business leaders in the European countries, among others.

In France, he will attend an Economic Forum to be organised by the French Senate.

Momen invited German businesses, whose representatives ended a five-day visit to Bangladesh on Thursday, to invest more in the country, particularly in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and High-tech Parks being developed by the government.

He urged them to take advantage of the country’s strategic location, demographic dividends, special incentive packages for foreign direct investment (FDI) and a huge domestic market.

A group of CEOs and high-ranking representatives of cross-sectoral business houses from German Asia-Pacific Business Association (OAV) visited Bangladesh.

Peter Clasen, managing partner of Wilhelm G Clasen, a major jute exporter from Bangladesh, was the team leader.

Before closing the mission, Clasen told a press briefing that he has witnessed the “tremendous transformation” of Bangladesh and called it the “fastest growing” market in Asia.

“My first visit to Bangladesh dates back to the mid-1950s. Since then, the country has undergone a tremendous transformation. In particular, within the past decade, the economy has steadily grown making Bangladesh now the fastest growing market in Asia,” he said.