Bangladesh and Russia have signed an agreement on the establishment of an intergovernmental commission on trade and economic, scientific and technical cooperation.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam MP signed the agreement on behalf of the Bangladesh government on Wednesday morning at the Foreign Ministry office.
The Russian government was represented at the signing by Alexey Gruzdev, its deputy minister for economic development.
Also present were Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali and other senior officials of the ministry, and Russian Ambassador to Bangladesh Alexander I Ignatov, a foreign ministry press release said.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam signs an agreement on forming an intergovernmental commission with Russia March 1, 2017
PIDThe intergovernmental commission will assist the business communities of the two countries to promote the development of broad-based bilateral cooperation in a variety of areas. It will analyse the status of trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation, particularly in the areas of agriculture, energy and power, and education.
Wednesday's deal deepens the existing ties between the two countries. In 2013, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina signed a billion-dollar deal with the Kremlin for fighter training jets, helicopters and anti-tank missiles.
Moscow stepped in again with nuclear power, pledging 90 percent of the funding and much of the technical expertise needed for two 1,200-megawatt plants which are slated to come on grid in Bangladesh by 2023.
Both parties in the new intergovernmental commission will appoint co-chairs, with deputies and executive secretaries to carry out the commission’s work. Permanent or ad-hoc working groups on specific areas of cooperation may be established within the framework of the commission by a joint decision.
The commission will meet at least once a year, alternately in Dhaka and Moscow.
