Central Asian country Uzbekistan agrees to start direct flights between Dhaka and Tashkent and to ease visa procedure for Bangladeshis, at a meet focused on trade promotion.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen disclosed the outcome of his meeting Friday in Dhaka with visiting Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjaev.
''Both the countries agreed to enhance connectivity and strengthen cooperation in agriculture, IT and tourism sectors," the foreign minister told reporters.
"Uzbekistan considers Bangladesh a key point for strengthening its connectivity with the South Asian region and similarly Bangladesh thinks Uzbekistan can be vital for enhancing connectivity with Central Asia," he said.
Previously there were direct flights between Dhaka and Tashkent and in response to Bangladesh's proposal the Uzbek minister agreed to restart the air connectivity.
As Bangladesh proposed easing visa procedure for Bangladeshis, saying that it will pave the way for huge Bangladeshi tourist visits to that country, the visiting minister assured that necessary steps would be taken.
Bangladesh also proposed to import cotton and fertiliser from Uzbekistan as they produce huge quantity of quality cotton.
Of late, supply chains from Ukraine and Russia have faced hurdles amid war between the two and western sanctions. Bangladesh imports huge cotton to feed its main export industry of textiles and apparel. The country also imports substantial volumes of fertiliser from that global hub of food, fuels and fertiliser.
The Uzbek DPM said that his country is interested to lure Bangladeshi pharmaceutical entrepreneurs to start projects in their country-considered a gateway to Asia, Central Asia, Middle East and Europe
Referring to world-class pharmaceutical products of Bangladesh, Foreign Minister Dr Momen urged the Uzbekistan government to import pharmaceuticals from here.
Dr Momen told the Uzbek minister that as Bangladesh has 0.7 million IT freelancers and high-quality IT infrastructures, Uzbekistan can take the opportunity to invest in the sector here.
He also called upon the Uzbek government to open its mission in Bangladesh to further strengthen ties between the two countries.
mirmostafiz@yahoo.com
