EU wants to diversify trade relations with Bangladesh

Newly appointed Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to Bangladesh Michael Miller on Tuesday said the EU wants to diversify trade relations with Bangladesh with more investment, and support Bangladesh’s transition after LDC graduation.

He also conveyed the EU’s readiness to support the reform agenda of the interim government.

Noting the recent students-led mass uprising as an unprecedented opportunity for change, the Ambassador offered EU’s all-out cooperation in this transition and reform, including in human rights and good governance and the democratic process.

While paying an introductory courtesy call on Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain, the ambassador mentioned that the EU wants to diversify trade relations with Bangladesh with more investment and support Bangladesh’s transition after its LDC graduation.

The foreign adviser welcomed the EU’s offer of assistance and assured creating a better business environment for strengthening Bangladesh-EU trade and investment relations.

Terming the relations between Bangladesh and the EU as vibrant and important, the adviser requested for EU’s assistance in health and education sectors with particular emphasis on improving technical and vocational training institutes.

He underlined the need for assistance in recovering stolen assets deposited abroad by some Bangladeshi nationals.

The EU ambassador offered technical assistance in this regard.

The ambassador informed about EIB’s ongoing investment of €900 million in the rail, energy, water and health sectors of Bangladesh and expressed EIB’s readiness to enhance EIB’s investment portfolio in Bangladesh.

The adviser and the EU Ambassador appreciated the upcoming discussion on Partnership and Cooperation Agreement towards elevating the Bangladesh-EU relations to a new height.

The ambassador reaffirmed continued assistance from the EU for the Rohingya in Bangladesh and the host community in Cox’s Bazar.

The foreign adviser and the EU ambassador noted that the return of the Rohingya to their homeland Myanmar with rights and safety is the only sustainable solution to the protracted crisis.