Bangladesh eyes on better connectivity with Bhutan: FM
Foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen today said Bangladesh is giving emphasis on establishing better connectivity with Bhutan during the ongoing visit of Bhutanese Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering here.
“Our prime minister says – connectivity is productivity – so we propose Bhutan to use our sea ports and to establish road and railways connectivity with us,” he said while briefing the newsmen after calling on Bhutanese premier at Hotel Intercontinental here.
Mentioning that Bhutan is not allowing heavy vehicles inside its territory in fear of environment degradation, Momen said he proposed Bhutan to open the road connectivity in a regulated way.
“We also suggested them to increase their international connectivity by using our sea ports as Bhutan is a land locked country” he added.
The foreign minister said he also proposed Bhutan to use Syedpur airport as Bangladesh government has a plan to establish a regional aviation hub centering that airport.
“Bhutan is only around a few hundred miles from Sydpur, so I proposed him to think of operating an airline from Sydpur airport in greater international connectivity,” he said.
Momen urged Bhutan to take initiative for intensifying the BBIN initiative in more effective way to get trade benefit from the region.
“We also showed our keen interest to take hydro electricity from Bhutan as currently we are taking power from India,” he said.
The foreign minister said the Bhutanese premier showed positive interest to establish road connectivity with Bangladesh soon.
Momen said Bangladesh is likely to sign around five MoUs with Bhutan after the meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Dr Lotay Tshering at Prime Minister’s office tomorrow.
The foreign ministry official source said it is expected that five MoUs will be signed by both sides paving the way for strengthening cooperation between the two countries in the areas of health, agriculture, shipping, tourism and public administration training.
In the morning, the red carpet was rolled out as Bhutanese Premier arrived here this morning on a three-day official visit to Bangladesh at the invitation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The Bhutanese Prime Minister paid rich tributes to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by visiting Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi 32 in the city and liberation war martyrs at National Memorial at Savar soon after arriving here.
After that Dr Lotay Tshering visited the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) secretariat in the city.
During the visit, the Bhutanese premier reassured Bhutan’s commitments in strengthening BIMSTEC.
The Bhutanese prime minister, who is an alumni of Mymensigh Medical College, also visited Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons in the capital from where he had undertaken a fellowship in General Surgery.
During the visit, Dr Lotay said that BCPS gave him the zeal to serve people through the medical profession and that the same mandate made him join politics.
In the afternoon, the Bhutanese premier held a business meeting with the leaders of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) at Hotel Intercontinental.
