Bangladesh is going to have first-ever foreign secretary-level talks with Ethiopia Tuesday to strengthen political relations and reach out to other African countries.
Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque will lead the Bangladesh side while Ethiopian side will be led by its Permanent Secretary Mahlet Hailu.
The headquarters of African Union and regional UN office for Africa are located in Addis Ababa and these make the country ‘hub of African diplomacy’, said Bangladesh Ambassador there Md Monirul Islam.
“We have so many similarities as both the countries uphold the values of human rights and work for peace and harmony in the region and the globe,” he said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opened the border to give shelters to millions of Rohingyas while Ethiopian premier Abiy Ahmed has won the Nobel peace prize this year, he added.
“It is a good opportunity for us to engage more with Ethiopia to increase our trade and investment opportunity and send skilled manpower there,” he added.
Bangladesh businesses have a substantial presence in the African country, mostly in the readymade garment sector, and there is ample scope to explore other industrial areas, the ambassador pointed out.
“Before having any deep engagement, we need to have people-to-people to contact and for that, we would propose to have a reciprocal visa-waiver arrangement in the foreign secretary-level talks.”
Monir said the country has a shortage of skilled doctor, engineer, IT specialist, agriculturist and teacher and Bangladesh can be able to help reduce the gap.
Bangladesh opened its Ethiopian mission in 2016 and we would request them to open its embassy here as soon as possible, he added.
“We would also like to have more visits at the government, businessmen, cultural and other areas to reap the maximum benefit of the relations,” Monir said.