President urges Vietnam to ease visa process, boost trade, connectivity
Dhaka: President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has urged Vietnam to simplify its visa process for Bangladeshi businesspeople, workers, students, and tourists to increase people-to-people contact and deepen bilateral ties.
“Bangladesh and Vietnam have maintained friendly relations for more than five decades. To further strengthen the relations between the two countries and harness mutual development potential, it is important to ease the visa process to increase contacts and expand areas of partnership among businesspeople, investors, and peoples of the two countries,” he said.
The president made the remarks when Vietnamese Ambassador to Bangladesh Nguyen Manh Cuong paid a farewell call on him at Bangabhaban on the morning of September 17, according to President's Press Secretary Md. Sarwar Alam.
During the meeting, the ambassador congratulated Mirza Fakhrul on assuming office and conveyed an invitation from the Vietnamese president to visit Vietnam. The president thanked his Vietnamese counterpart for the invitation.
The ambassador also called for establishing direct air connectivity between Bangladesh and Vietnam, concluding a preferential trade agreement and increasing high-level visits between the two countries.
The president said Bangladesh and Vietnam have significant potential to expand economic cooperation and called for measures to make bilateral trade more balanced and mutually beneficial.
“Opportunities should be created to increase Bangladesh's exports to make trade between the two countries more balanced and mutually beneficial,” he said.
He urged Vietnam to increase imports of Bangladeshi products, including medicines, leather and leather goods, ceramics, bicycles, jute, and jute products.
Recalling his visit to Vietnam in 2003 as part of the entourage of then Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, Mirza Fakhrul expressed hope that the longstanding friendship between the two peoples and bilateral relations would be strengthened further.
The president thanked Ambassador Nguyen Manh Cuong for his contributions to strengthening Bangladesh-Vietnam relations during his tenure and wished him good health and well-being.
