Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering to visit Bangladesh in April

Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering is coming to Bangladesh next month, Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque has said.

After the second foreign office consultation (FOC) between the countries on Tuesday in Dhaka, he said the meeting laid the ground for the visit in April at the invitation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

A number of bilateral instruments are expected to be signed by both sides related to cooperation on inland waterways for cargo transportation, cooperation in health and agriculture sectors, and cooperation between the Public Administration Training Centres of the two countries for exchange of faculty members as well as training and capacity building, he said.

Bhutanese Foreign Secretary Sonam Tshong expressed his happiness at the holding of the FOC which holds special significance in light of the forthcoming visit of the Bhutanese prime minister.

He said Bangladesh holds a special place for the Prime Minister Tshering since he is an alumnus of Mymensingh Medical College.

Bhutan, he added, is highly optimistic about realising full potential of cooperation with Bangladesh as well as exploring new areas of collaboration.

Tshong headed an eight-strong delegation at the meeting while Haque led 19-member team.

Apart from bilateral issues, the two sides also discussed cooperative frameworks on transit and connectivity, specially under the BBIN framework which Bangladesh believes is crucial for the future development of the sub-region.

Trilateral cooperation between Bangladesh, Bhutan and India in the field of hydroelectric power was also discussed.

Bhutan showed keen interest to recruit Bangladesh doctors, the foreign ministry said.