In the golden jubilee of Bangladesh-Singapore diplomatic relations, the two sides pledged to strengthen bilateral cooperation. The pledge was made at a diplomatic meeting between the foreign ministers of Bangladesh and Singapore held in Singapore on Monday (18 April) morning.
Bangladesh Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. AK Abdul Momen and Foreign Minister of Singapore Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan represented their respective governments at the meeting. During the meeting, which was held in a very cordial atmosphere, the Foreign Ministers of the two countries reiterated their commitment to strengthen and accelerate bilateral cooperation on the golden jubilee of Bangladesh-Singapore diplomatic relations.
During the hour-long meeting, they discussed important bilateral, regional, and global issues.
Bangladesh High Commissioner to Singapore Md. Touhidul Islam, Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (South-East Asia) Md. Nazmul Huda, Director (Foreign Minister’s Office), and High Commission officials were present at the meeting on behalf of Bangladesh.
The Government of Singapore was represented by Gilbert Oh, Director General of the South Asia Wing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Derek Loh, High Commissioner of Singapore to Bangladesh.
This is the first ministerial meeting between the two countries since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dr. Momen is currently in Singapore on a three-day official visit at the invitation of the Government of Singapore.
During the meeting, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh sought the assistance of the Government of Singapore to continue the international pressure on Myanmar to resolve the Rohingya issue and to accelerate Bangladesh’s accession to the ASEAN Forum as a Sectoral Dialogue Partner. In this context, the Foreign Minister of Singapore Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan expressed his government’s unwavering support in both cases.
Foreign Minister Dr. Momen expressed his gratitude to the Government and people of Singapore for the recent decision to launch a special award in the name of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by the National University Singapore.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the friendly relations between Bangladesh and Singapore, they discussed concluding negotiations on expediting the free trade agreement to expand trade and investment and signing the agreement, and setting up various scholarships for the exchange of training and experiences at student and professional level.
Additionally, they also discussed providing technical assistance in achieving food security, increasing Bangladesh’s exports of agricultural products to Singapore, continuing to work together to achieve sustainable development goals by tackling the effects of climate change, creating new jobs for Bangladeshi workers in Singapore, ensuring minimum wages and safeguarding interests, and other bilateral issues.
Foreign Minister of Singapore Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan assured the Singapore Government’s utmost cooperation in these matters.
