Photo: MOFA
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh and Malaysia have agreed to start negotiations on Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to boost trade further.
The consensus was made at second Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between Bangladesh and Malaysia held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia in Putrajaya on Wednesday,
“Two sides discussed all issues related to the bilateral relations including trade and investment, employment of Bangladeshi workforce in Malaysia, Rohingya issue, culture etc,” Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement.
Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh Md Shahidul Haque led the Bangladesh delegation to the meeting while the Malaysian side was led by Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia Dato' Seri Ramlan Ibrahim, it added.
At the meeting, Malaysia has reaffirmed the commitment to continue its constructive role in resolving the Rohingya issue and extending support to Bangladesh in regional and international forum.
The Bangladesh foreign secretary thanked Malaysia for its role in relation to Rohingya issues and also appreciated operations of the field hospital established by Malaysia for Rohingyas.
The meeting also noted that G2G+ (government to government plus) mechanism has brought in positive development in reducing cost of the labour force to come to Malaysia and the influence of the middlemen. After introduction of G2G+ mechanism 98,800 Bangladeshi workers arrived in Malaysia, out of approved 122,000 applications as informed by Malaysian side.
At the meeting, they discussed about the upcoming 45th Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Dhaka in 2018 to be held in Dhaka when Bangladesh foreign secretary briefed about the preparation of CFM.
BBN/SSR/AD