Bangladesh has expressed its willingness to hold the 9th joint commission meeting with the European Union next month.
"We have sent a letter to the EU delegation in Bangladesh yesterday. We intend to hold it in June this year in Dhaka, if it is convenient for them," a senior official of the Economic Relations Division (ERD) told the FE Monday.
The government has proposed holding the meetings of the three sub groups on governance, commerce and trade and economic cooperation on the sidelines of the joint commission meeting, said the official who preferred not to be named.
An inter-ministerial meeting for the preparation of the joint-commission was also held in the foreign ministry on Monday where EU ambassador to Bangladesh Rensje Teerinkand and officials of other ministries were present.
According to meeting sources, the role of the focal ministry was discussed in the meeting.
The last joint commission was held in Brussels, which discussed issues related to the role of the rule of law in democracy, governance, human rights, migration, trade and investment, labour rights, development cooperation, including the Sustainable Development Goals, and humanitarian issues.
In the upcoming meeting, migration, Rohingya issue and trade cooperation in the aftermath of the Brexit would be the main issues.
For the last several years, the European Union and Bangladesh have been engaged in an in-depth discussion on migration, especially on the finalisation of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on the return of irregular migrants from the European Union.
During the last meeting, the European Union expressed its regret over the lack of progress on these negotiations and urged Bangladesh to conclude the negotiations on such procedures.
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