{"id":120789,"date":"2021-12-01T17:54:31","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T00:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=120789"},"modified":"2021-12-01T17:54:31","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T00:54:31","slug":"maldives-and-bangladesh-can-benefit-from-growing-trade-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/12\/01\/maldives-and-bangladesh-can-benefit-from-growing-trade-ties\/","title":{"rendered":"Maldives And Bangladesh Can Benefit From Growing Trade Ties"},"content":{"rendered":"

MD Pathik Hasan<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Maldives and Bangladesh both are\nSouth Asian countries. Maldives and Bangladesh established diplomatic relations\non 22 September 1978.  That was the\nstarting point. The relations between two South Asian countries are increasing\nday by day.  Maldives President Ibrahim\nMohammed Saleh’s visit to Bangladesh in March, 2021 added multidimensionality\nto the two countries. Because the country has expressed its determination to\nwork together with Dhaka on bilateral, regional and international issues. Not\nonly that, a total of six Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) has been signed\nbetween Dhaka-Male within a month; Of which four have been completed in the\npresence of the President during his visit to Dhaka to mark the Birth Centenary\ncelebration of Founder of Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib in March. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS),\na new dimension in the region’s diplomacy, shares Bangladesh’s ideological\naspirations with Maldives, the geopolitically important country. For this\nreason, the country intends to work together with Bangladesh while maintaining\npeace and stability. At the same time, the two countries have agreed to\nincrease connectivity by air and sea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maldivian\nVice President Faisal Naseem visited Bangladesh recently. He has shown keen\ninterest to recruit specialised professionals and doctors from Bangladesh,\nseeking to establish direct shipping line between Chattogram and Mal\u00e9, to\nenhance bilateral trade.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Bangladesh Prime\nMinister, Bangladesh can extend technical support to the Maldives on human\nresources development and healthcare.   “Bangladesh can share our\nhealth sector experiences with the Maldives as Bangladesh has set up community\nclinics to ensure primary healthcare services. So, Bangladesh can help the\nMaldives in this regard,” she added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh can cooperate in\nhigher education and development of human resources, training and capacity\nbuilding, particularly for the health sector of Maldives. Maldives can benefit\nfrom importing world-class healthcare, garments, processed food, agro products,\nhousehold appliances, construction materials, eco-friendly jute, leather,\nplastic, ceramic and light-engineering products from Bangladesh at competitive\nprices. On the other hands, Maldives can invest Bangladesh in tourism sector.\nIt has huge experience in tourism sector. Bangladesh and Maldives can sign a\nfree trade agreement to boost up trade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maldivian President Ibrahim\nMohammed Saleh arrived in Dhaka on a two-day visit on the occasion of\nBangabandhu’s birth centenary and golden jubilee of independence. During his\nbilateral meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, four MoUs were signed\nbetween Bangladesh and Maldives. The memoranda include the formation of a Joint\nCommission (JCC), regular meetings at the Foreign Secretary level, assistance\nin the extraction of marine resources and cultural exchanges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two leaders also discussed\nbilateral trade, customs co-operation and avoidance of double taxation,\ninvestment, migration issues, human resource and youth development, education,\nhealth care and medicine, agriculture, tourism, Rohingya issues, climate change\nissues and natural disasters. And mitigation. The two top leaders also agreed\nto expand mutual cooperation on these issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to First Lady Fazna\nAhmed, the Maldivian President was accompanied by 28 guests, including Foreign\nMinister Abdullah Shahid and the Minister for Economic Development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Maldivian president’s visit\nadded a new dimension to the ongoing goodwill between the two countries. This\nis especially a reflection of Bangladesh’s geopolitical importance in the\nregion and the support it has from neighboring countries. This visit provides\nan opportunity for the Maldives to support Bangladesh’s rivalry over\nconnectivity in the Indian Ocean. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saleh congratulated Bangladesh\nfor its economic progress and socio-economic development by celebrating the\nGolden Jubilee across the path of friendship. He also expressed his gratitude\nto Bangladesh. Highlighting the assistance of Bangladesh, provided to the\nMaldives during the coronavirus epidemic, Saleh said the Maldives is grateful\nfor the friendship of the people of Bangladesh. This friendship is helping us\nto meet the challenges posed by the epidemic. This cooperation is a sign of\nfriendly relations between the two countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the second day of the visit,\nthe two leaders held a private meeting before the bilateral meeting. Later, in\ntheir presence, a memorandum of understanding was signed on four issues, including\nthe formation of a joint commission to strengthen overall cooperation between\nthe two countries. In addition to emphasizing on enhancing communication and\ntrade between Dhaka and Male, the two countries also agreed to sign a\npreferential trade agreement at a bilateral meeting chaired by the two\nleaders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Sheikh Hasina-Saleh\nmeeting, the two foreign ministers of the two countries came to the joint press\nconference at Hotel Intercontinental in Dhaka in the afternoon. AK Abdul Momen\nand Abdullah Shahid. Abdul Momen said the two countries have agreed to operate\ndirect ships and flights to the Maldives. Bangladesh and Maldives have agreed\nto sign a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to boost trade and\ninvestment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, Abdullah Shahid\nsaid the country welcomed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s announcement to\nincrease connectivity. We want to increase communication by air as well as by\nsea. We will work to maintain peace and stability in the Indian Ocean. Shahid\nalso promised that Maldives would stand by Bangladesh in resolving the Rohingya\ncrisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding the Bangladeshi\nexpatriates in the Maldives, Shahid said the Prime Minister appreciated the\ndecision of the Maldivian President to provide free coronavirus vaccine to the\nexpatriates in the country. President Salih praised the contribution of\nBangladeshi expatriate workers in Maldives. He met with Abdul Hamid. There is\nalso talk of increasing connectivity <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, a joint statement\nissued by the two countries said that Bangladesh’s support for the Maldivian\nForeign Minister as President of the UN General Assembly this year has been\nconfirmed. On the other hand, Maldives will support the Bangladeshi candidate\nfor the post of Regional Director of the World Health Organization’s Southeast\nAsia Regional Office for 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can say, this is the sign of\neternal brotherhood between Bangladesh-Male.  Even though the Maldives is\na small island state, it has a geopolitical significance. Bangladesh got\nmulti-dimensional benefits during the visit of Maldives President to Dhaka. We\nhave always good relations with the Maldives. This visit has created an\nopportunity to strengthen this relationship. The agreements reached between the\ntwo countries strengthen the relationship between the two countries and reflect\nthe geopolitical importance of Bangladesh in the region and the support that\nneighboring countries have for Bangladesh  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are huge sectors of\npotentials to work together such as tourism, tackling covid-19,\ncounter-terrorism approach, maritime cooperation, Climate change issue,\nfishing, supporting each other at common regional and international fora.\nMaldives always supports the stance of Bangladesh regarding Rohingya refugees\u2019\nrepatriation, relocation of Rohingyas to Bashanchar. These are very\nappreciable. The Government of Maldives sent gift of 200,000 Covid-19\nvaccines for the people of Bangladesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average volume of the\ncountry’s exports to Maldives is $6 million while imports amount to $50\nmillion. The two countries want to augment their cooperation on climate issues,\ntourism, trade and human resources development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Maldives bilateral relations\nwith Bangladesh and the maritime cooperation with Bangladesh in the Indian\nOcean in terms of a regional cooperation or connectivity will give a new\ndimension to Maldives’ assistance there. Bangladesh is going to become a full\nmember of Colombo Security block.  All in all, it will benefit mutual\ndiplomacy and the economic and other interests of bilateral relations between\nboth parties. The Maldivian economy is not very big, but it has geopolitical\nadvantages and diplomatic importance.  The people of Bangladesh and\nMaldives would benefit ultimately. Bangladesh-Maldives ties would be more\nfraternal. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MD Pathik Hasan Maldives and Bangladesh both are South Asian countries. Maldives and Bangladesh established diplomatic relations on 22 September 1978.  That was the starting point. The relations between two South Asian countries are increasing day by day.  Maldives President Ibrahim Mohammed Saleh’s visit to Bangladesh in March, 2021 added multidimensionality to the two countries. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-md-pathik-hasan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120789\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}