Foreign Ministry officials of Bangladesh and Thailand will meet in Dhaka early next month to discuss various bilateral issues including trade, investment and blue economy, sources said.
This is for the first time that officials of the two countries will be meeting in the form of foreign office consultation (FOC), they added.
Both the countries have joint foreign ministers' consultative commission which had a number of meetings in the past including the last one in 2013.
Sources said during the FOC on May 6-7, the two sides will discuss about Bangladesh-Thai Joint Commission (JC) meeting which was last held in 1998 in Bangkok. The last 7th JC meeting was scheduled to be held in July 2013 but it was postponed.
The two sides will also discuss about cooperation in exploring the blue economy.
After settlement of maritime disputes over the Bay of Bengal with India and Myanmar, the government has opted to explore sea resources called 'blue economy'.
Officials of the two sides will also talk about proposed Bangladesh-Thailand Security Forum and defence cooperation between the two countries.
Sources said during the FOC, the Bangladesh side will float the idea of holding joint military exercise.
According to meeting agenda, combating trafficking in persons in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, trans-boundary criminal activities, and money laundering will also be discussed in the FOC.
Sources said connectivity between the two countries also tops the agenda including direct road, shipping, and air link. A proposal is there to make road connectivity between the two countries using the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) corridor and the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC).
The department of shipping has suggested that since both are maritime countries, a bilateral coastal shipping agreement can be signed with Thailand with a view to carrying cargoes by the national flag vessels.
A direct shipping link between Chittagong port of Bangladesh and Ranong port of Thailand will also be proposed, sources said.
Officials said Bangladesh and Thailand have bilateral trade worth US$780 million. In fiscal year 2013-14, Bangladesh's import from Thailand was $741 million against export of goods worth $39 million.
They said various non-tariff barriers hinder Bangladesh's exports to Thailand.
Bangladesh had sought duty and quota-free access to the Thai market to enhance export and reduce trade gap. However, Thailand did not respond positively to the request.
Sources said during the consultation, Bangladesh will again raise the issue of duty and quota-free access.
In the FOC, sources said, Bangladesh will request Thailand for investing in various fields including tourism, health services, energy and food processing sectors.
According to officials, presently Thailand is investing in chemical plants around the world. Bangladesh will seek such a cooperation.
Besides, issues like employment of Bangladeshi workers in Thailand, signing memorandum of understanding (MoU) on agriculture, finalisation of MoUs on fisheries and livestock cooperation, MoU between the Bangladesh Accreditation Board and that Thai Industrial Standards Institute, technical assistance and cooperation in development of tourism, ICT, education, human resources and visa exemption for official passport holder will also be discussed in the FOC.
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