Bangladesh and Thailand have agreed to explore the prospect of establishing a free trade agreement (FTA) to expand bilateral commerce between the two nations.
The agreement was achieved at the third round of foreign office meetings, which took place Tuesday at Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka.
During the meeting, Dhaka and Bangkok also shared views on regional and multilateral matters of mutual concern, according to a Foreign Ministry statement issued Wednesday.
Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen headed the Bangladeshi mission, while Thailand’s Permanent Secretary of Foreign Ministry Sarun Charoensuwan led the Thai delegation.
Both parties praised the current strong bilateral relations and reiterated their determination to taking bilateral relations to new heights in the coming days.
The two sides praised the increased speed of engagement and excitement in areas of political, economic, social, and cultural links and agreed to explore new areas of collaboration.
The summit reviewed commerce, investment, health services, tourism, defense cooperation, consular cooperation, agriculture and agro-processing, manufacturing, connectivity, ICT, energy, cultural exchange, and people-to-people interactions.
Bangladesh’s foreign secretary emphasized the country’s desire to join the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral expressway as well as ASEAN’s sectoral dialogue partners.
Both parties emphasized the need of maintaining the relationship’s upward momentum through frequent visits and talks, and they decided to organize the next Bangladesh-Thailand Joint Commission Meeting at the level of foreign ministers in Bangkok on a mutually agreeable date.
Bangladesh and Thailand agreed to host the Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting in Dhaka in 2023 at a mutually suitable time to evaluate the whole bilateral trade and investment portfolio and expand the volume and variety of trade to its genuine potentials.
