Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius Louis Steven Obeegadoo has termed Bangladesh as the “shining example” of development.
He noted miraculous progress that Bangladesh achieved in the socio-economic sector over the last one decade.
Obeegadoo made this remark when Foreign Secretary Ambassador Masud Bin Momen paid a courtesy call on the Deputy Prime Minister at his office in Port Louis, Mauritius on Tuesday.
The Foreign secretary’s three-day visit to Mauritius also ended on Tuesday.
During the meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister a wide range of bilateral issues were discussed.
The Deputy Prime Minister commented that people of his generation get inspiration from Bangladesh´s freedom struggle. He expressed satisfaction at the way Bangladesh handled the Covid-19 situation to protect its people and bring back the economy on the right track.
Obeegadoo highlighted the need for signing of MOU on Tourism cooperation between the two countries. His government is ready to sign the instrument during the visit of Bangladesh´s Foreign Minister to Mauritius this year, he said.
He underlined that tourism is the lifeline of the Mauritian economy which was badly hit due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Ambassador Masud replied that in order to promote tourism, visa processing must be made easier.
He proposed to appoint an Honorary Consul in Bangladesh to expedite the visa processing or a Consular Officer from Mauritian Embassy in New Delhi could visit Dhaka at a regular interval for visa purposes or online visa facilities can be introduced.
Deputy Prime Minister assured to look into the matter of appointing an honourary consul.
Ambassador Masud stressed the need for direct air connectivity for promoting tourism.
He also emphasised on concluding the air service agreement between the two countries.
The Deputy Prime Minister put emphasis on concluding all pending agreements/ MOUs to strengthen cooperation between the two friendly countries.
The Foreign secretary also held meetings with other ministers of the Mauritius government during this three-day official visit.
During the meeting with the Minister of Labour, Human Resource Development and Training, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Protection Soodesh Satkam Callichurn, Ambassador Masud extended sincere thanks from the government and the people of Bangladesh for taking good care of the Bangladeshi workforce during the pandemic.
Not a single Bangladeshi worker was out of the National vaccination program nor a single Bangladeshi worker was sent back when Mauritian economy was hit hard due to the covid pandemic, he added.
The labour Minister mentioned that the Bangladeshi workforce earned a huge reputation for their sincerity, dedication to work and law-abiding nature.
Mauritius is actively considering recruiting Bangladeshi workforce once Covid situation returns to normalcy and the economy gets momentum, he added.
Callichurn, who is also in charge of the Commerce Ministry, underlined the importance of FTA/ PTA between the two countries to promote trade and investment. He emphasised on commencing the negotiation soon.
During the meeting with the Minister of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation Darsanand Balgobin, Ambassador Masud exchanged ideas regarding collaboration in the IT sector and capacity building from each other´s expertise.
Ambassador Masud highlighted that Bangladesh has 600,000 free-lance IT experts.
Mauritius can tap the potential of Bangladeshi IT experts. The Bangladesh government has the Access to Information (A 2 I) project through which many government services have been delivered to the door steps of rural areas.
Ambassador Masud offered such services to Mauritius. In response, the Mauritian Minister mentioned that they set a target to digitize the whole country by 2030 and expressed keenness to collaborate with Bangladesh to realize the dream.
Ambassador Masud handed over a draft MOU on ICT cooperation between the two countries.
He also visited CMT Textile Factory where over 1200 Bangladeshi skilled workforce are employed of which most of them are women. He interacted with them and inquired about their welfare.
They expressed satisfaction over the work environment while sharing their experiences with the Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh.