Bangladesh and Indonesia have signed two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on energy and agriculture sector cooperation.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi signed the MoU on energy sector cooperation in Jakarta on Monday.
Dr Momen also signed a bilateral MoU in agricultural cooperation on behalf of Bangladesh, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
They also had a bilateral meeting when the foreign minister sought market access for Bangladeshi readymade garment products in Indonesia.
Dr Momen is now visiting Jakarta to accompany President Mohammed Shahabuddin as the latter is, at the invitation of President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, participating in the 43rd Asean Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit.
The energy-sector MoU aims at promoting the long-term sale and delivery of the conventional form of energy to and developing new and renewable energy sources and power plants in Bangladesh.
The agricultural deal is intended to foster collaboration in producing, marketing, promoting technology transfer and exchange of best practices in the field of agriculture.
Expressing his satisfaction with the recent increase in bilateral trade volume between the two countries surpassing $3 billion mark, Dr Momen noted the stark imbalance between Bangladesh’s import and export volumes.
The gap can only be reduced by promoting the export of Bangladeshi products to the Indonesian markets, especially the ones that Bangladesh has a competitive advantage in, he said while holding a meeting with Retno Marsudi in Jakarta on the sidelines of the Asean summit.
Recognizing Indonesia as an important trade partner of Bangladesh in the Asean region, he said that there was great potential to further enhance bilateral trade and investment, given the complementary strengths and resources.
He expressed his hope that the bilateral preferential trade agreement (PTA) between the two countries would be finalized soon.
The two foreign ministers discussed various aspects of the bilateral relationship between the two countries including cooperation in trade and investment and collaboration between the two countries in the international forums, Bangladesh’s bid to become a sectoral dialogue partner of Asean and the issue of the repatriation of the forcible displaced Myanmar nationals (the Rohingyas) temporarily sheltered in Bangladesh.
Foreign Minister Marsudi underscored the socio-economic development under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Noting that Bangladesh and Indonesia enjoy cultural similarity and a historical bond at the people-to-people level, she emphasized exploring new avenues of collaboration and partnership to build a stronger, more vibrant relationship between our two great nations.
The ministers stressed the potential of further enhancing collaboration to ensure energy and food security.
