Brazilian ambassador in Dhaka Wanja Campos Nobrega emphasised Sunday the need for working together to take the bilateral relations between the two countries to a new height and explore new avenues of cooperation in the coming days.
Speaking at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS), she said also said Bangladesh's football coaches might go to Brazil for training.
Chaired by ambassador Munshi Faiz Ahmed, Chairman of BIISS Board of Governors, BIISS Director General Major General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed also spoke at the function.
Nobrega drew parallels of the development of Brazil and Bangladesh and said Bangladesh has been able to stabilise its economy within 40 years of independence and achieve many of the MDGs like Brazil.
She said, "To us Bangladesh is a friend and also a partner not only for trade but for many other issues".
With US$ 2.2 trillion GDP last year, Brazil, the biggest country in Latin America, is the seventh largest economy in the world.
But its economic growth was driven by the domestic market as exports contributed only around 10 per cent to its GDP.
Bangladesh mostly imports animal and vegetable oil and sugar from Brazil.
Brazil is also the third largest aircraft producer in the world.
The envoy said collaboration in the civil aviation sector can be a new way of engagement with Bangladesh as a private company Novo Air recently bought two aircraft from their company, Embraer.
She said order for four more aircraft has been placed.
The ambassador, speaking on Brazil-Bangladesh relations, said she could see how millions in Bangladesh supported Brazil and were disappointed at her country's defeat.
She said even President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, both known Brazil supporters, had expressed their support and sadness when she met them to exchange Eid greetings.
She also thanked Bangladeshi people for their support and said she received personal and official greetings during the World Cup.
She said currently there is no Brazilian player or coach working in Bangladesh as far as she knew.
"Until the beginning of this year we had two football players here but they left after their contracts ended," she said.
Faiz Ahmad said Bangladesh and Brazil have maintained good and friendly relations from the very beginning.
"The two countries are keen to refocus on their diplomatic engagement and seriously considering conclusion of some agreements in various areas, including technical cooperation, agricultural cooperation, visa exemption, and cooperation in culture and education," he said.
Shafiuddin Ahmed said there are many convergences of interests between Brazil and Bangladesh in the global issues, including climate change and trade negotiations.
He expressed the hope that Bangladesh and Brazil will explore every opportunity to work together to guarantee potential enhancement of these close relations for the sake of progress and prosperity of their peoples.
Senior civil and military officials, including former ambassadors, members of the academia, businessmen, representatives of think-tanks, scholars and policymakers participated in the open discussion session and put forward their valuable opinions.
