Bangladesh and Poland embarked on a new bilateral relation on Wednesday when the two sides signed a MoU to hold political consultations on regular basis. This followed the first-ever such meeting held at the state guesthouse Padma between Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen and Deputy's Foreign Minister of Poland Marcin Przydacz.
They took stock of the entire bilateral relations and agreed to work on increasing trade and investment. They also reviewed the progress made in different areas of cooperation in the past and discussed the future course of cooperation, the foreign ministry said. During the Consultations, the Foreign Secretary thanked the government of Poland for their support during the War of Liberation in 1971.
He expressed satisfaction at the growing rate of bilateral trade between the two countries which reached to the amount of $1.2 billion in the last fiscal year (2018-19) and urged both the sides to work together to increase bilateral trade and investment. He urged the Polish government to encourage Polish investors and entrepreneurs to invest in Bangladesh in Hi-Tech Parks (HTPs) and Specialized Economic Zones (SEZs).
The Polish Deputy Foreign Minister too pointed out that both Bangladesh and Poland may realise the huge potentials of bilateral trade and commerce. He emphasised on enhanced business contacts in the form of exchange of visits of business delegations as well as those between Chambers of Commerce of the two countries.
Both sides agreed to increase trade and investment through various mechanism like setting up a joint committee, exchanging business delegations, and signing up instrument of cooperation, etc. In addition to that, Bangladesh and Poland agreed to reinforce and establish cooperation in the sectors like Education, Culture, Agriculture, Energy and Mining, Science & Technology, ICT, Defence and Blue Economy.
The Foreign Secretary also requested the Polish delegation to ease the visa issuance procedure for Bangladeshi students, businessmen and visitors.
Mentioning the availability of a large pool of skilled and semi-skilled professionals and workers in Bangladesh, he proposed the Polish side to import skilled and semi-skilled workers from Bangladesh to fulfill the labour shortage in Poland. Apart from bilateral issues, views on international and regional issues were exchanged during the meeting.
Bangladesh sought Poland's continued support on the Rohingya issue, and requested to further extend this support as a responsible member of the international community to ensure safe and dignified return of the Rohingyas to their homeland. Both sides further agreed to maintain possible cooperation in different international fora and platforms.
The visiting Polish Deputy Foreign also called on Foreign Minister Dr A. K. Abdul Momen. The foreign minister highlighted Bangladesh's socio-economic progress under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He also emphasised on the exchange of high-level visits between the countries.
He also urged the Polish delegation to encourage Polish investors and entrepreneurs to invest in Bangladesh in various sectors like blue economy, shipbuilding, agricultural, food processing, and energy cooperation. The Polish Minister assured that Poland is eager to continue cooperation with Bangladesh.
He further informed that the Polish government is considering to reopen its embassy in Dhaka. The visiting minister earlier on Tuesday visited the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum in Dhanmondhi and paid tribute to the memories of the Father of the Nation and his family members who were brutally killed in 1975.
