The foreign office consultations between the Foreign Ministries of Bangladesh and Belarus were held at Minsk on August 30, 2018. The Bangladesh side was represented by Ambassador Mr. Kamrul Ahsan, Secretary (Bilateral & Consular) of the Foreign Ministry as head of delegation, Bangladesh Ambassador to Moscow, Dr. Saiful Haque, and Embassy and Foreign Ministry officials. The Belarusian delegation was represented by the Belarusian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Andrei Dapkiunas as head of delegation and high officials of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.

During the FOC, the Bangladesh head of delegation, expressed gratitude to Belarus for their support during our liberation struggle in 1971 as a member the ex-Soviet Union. He reaffirmed that Bangladesh considers Belarus as an active partner. He stressed on the need for exchange of more high level visits between the two countries. He also urged for mutual efforts for concluding the pending Agreements which are being discussed between Bangladesh and Belarus. The Secretary (Bilateral & Consular) of Bangladesh Foreign Ministry also remarked that the existing potentials of trade and investment between the two countries should be realized. He invited the Belarusian government to invest in Bangladesh as Bangladesh offers a lot of incentives to the foreign investors. He referred to the facilities extended at our Economic Zones in this regard. The Secretary underlined the importance of exchange of visits of Chamber of Commerce of the two countries. At the outset of the FOC, the Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister highlighted the importance of political foreign office consultations as an effective instrument to strengthen mutual wider cooperation. He remarked that Bangladesh and Belarus has friendly relations and lauded Bangladesh’s role in international platforms like UN.

During the discussions, both sides discussed the ongoing matters of the bilateral agenda, current status of cooperation and prospects for further development of Bangladesh-Belarus ties, including possible exchanges of high-level official visits. Both sides also stressed on the need for holding meeting of the Bangladesh-Belarus Joint Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation in near future.

At the FOC, both sides underlined the importance of contacts between the Foreign Ministries, Embassies as well as enhanced role of the Honorary Consuls to promote bilateral relations. The officials also reviewed the ways to expand the institutional framework for bilateral relations. Both sides attached importance to enhance cooperation in different sectors like education, health and culture as well as establishing cooperation under the framework of East European Economic Commission. The sides also agreed to establish contacts between the national coordinators for Sustainable Development Goals. The officials also discussed matters related to mutual support of the two countries at the UN and other International Organizations.

The Secretary (Bilateral & Consular) of Bangladesh Foreign Ministry also had a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Mr. Vladimir Makei at his office. During the meeting, Bangladesh head of delegation informed the Belarusian Foreign Minister about the situation of the displaced Rohingyas in Bangladesh and called for their support for resolving the crisis. Both sides also discussed on the importance of promotion of the entire range of bilateral relations as well as strengthening of the institutional mechanisms to enhance cooperation. The Belarusian Foreign Minister and the Bangladesh head of delegation also expressed satisfaction with the current level of cooperation between Belarus and Bangladesh on multilateral platforms, including the UN.