Dhaka, 01.03.2019:

Foreign Minister Dr. A K Abdul Momen, MP and the Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid met at the Emirates Palace today in Abu Dhabi. In addition to discussing the Rohingya issue, the two sides discussed various other issues of bilateral interest.  Foreign Minister Dr. Momen requested the Maldivian Foreign Minister to exert all possible measures for engaging Myanmar to take back the Rohingyas to their rightful homeland in the Rakhine state of Myanmar.  

Among other areas, the two sides discussed about women empowerment and gender mainstreaming. Foreign Minister Dr. Momen briefed the Maldivian Foreign Minister about the efforts and initiative undertaken by the government of Bangladesh and in particular, by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, for engendering a gender sensitive perspective in all three areas of the state – the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. Dr. Momen gave highlights of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s initiatives to ensure gender balance even at the grassroots politics and in the representative/elected bodies.

Later, the two sides discussed about engaging more proactively in the field of Blue Economy – in particular – for sustainable fishing and fisheries and also for tourism. Bangladesh Foreign Minister proposed to the Maldivian Foreign Minister to explore the possibility of exchanging experts in these two fields and synergise the developmental ambitions of the two countries and devise innovative measures to connect, innovate and leverage each other’s specific potentials and capabilities. The Maldivian Foreign Minister deeply appreciated the proposals made by the Bangladesh Foreign Minister and promised to look into the matter at the soonest.