Bangladesh and Switzerland are celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries on Sunday.
Switzerland officially recognized Bangladesh as an independent state on this day five decades ago.
To commemorate this milestone, Swiss Confederation President Ignazio Cassis extended his greetings to Bangladesh President M Abdul Hamid Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said a press release.
In his congratulatory message, Cassis highlighted the longstanding collaboration between the two countries in many domains as well as the continuous broadening of bilateral ties.
Highlighting the “stronger than ever” partnership, the Swiss president underlined key areas of future collaboration, including in Covid-19 recovery, peace and prosperity, climate change, and sustainable development.
Over the last five decades, Switzerland has been a reliable development and economic partner of the people and government of Bangladesh, said the release.
Switzerland has invested over $1.3 billion in development assistance in Bangladesh, with significant additional contributions channelled through international financial institutions, it read.
Bilateral trade has increased rapidly and today, traded goods amount to over $1.1 billion per year.
It continued: “Most Swiss multinational companies are present in the country and provide critical products, technologies and services in various key socio-economic sectors.
“Being a candidate for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, Switzerland aims at further broadening its engagement with Bangladesh also in multilateral fora to tackle global peace and security challenges.”