Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman and EU High Representative and Vice President Kaja Kallas witnessed the initialling. Rahman was accompanied by Prime Minister’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Humayun Kabir.
Bangladesh and the EU have initialled a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement in Brussels.
Dhaka termed it a forward-looking framework to elevate cooperation across political, economic, development and security domains.
Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman highlighted predictable market access as a priority and expressed Bangladesh’s interest in advancing talks on an FTA and an investment protection pact.
The PCA is a forward-looking framework to elevate cooperation across political, economic, development and security domains, the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry said in a release.
Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the longstanding partnership and expanding collaboration on regional and global issues.
They underscored the need to deepen cooperation in trade and investment, migration and mobility, regional collaboration and humanitarian affairs.
Rahman highlighted predictable market access as a priority and expressed Bangladesh’s interest in advancing negotiations on a free trade agreement and an investment protection agreement, according to a domestic news agency.
Rahman also met Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot, and both explored opportunities in trade, investment, connectivity, innovation and multilateral cooperation.
They agreed to hold the third Bangladesh-Belgium consultations in Brussels later this year.
Rahman welcomed more engagement by Belgian businesses in logistics, port management, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, technology and water management.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
