Diplomatic Correspondent

Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen has requested Estonia to consider expanding scholarship for Bangladeshi students.

He reiterated the importance of exchange/linkage programmes between universities of Bangladesh and Estonia for cooperation in research on information technology and business.

Director General of the Asia Pacific region, Africa and Middle East and of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Ambassador Kristi Karelsohn made a courtesy call on the foreign secretary at State Guest House Padma on Monday and discussed the issues.

Masud thanked the ambassador for coming to Dhaka for the first bilateral Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between Bangladesh and Estonia.

He praised Estonia's advancement in the ICT sector and sought the country’s assistance, particularly in Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies.

Both sides agreed that bilateral trade and investment levels between the two countries are still very low and there are plenty of scopes to increase it.

The foreign secretary suggested that facilitating the exchange of trade delegations or missions between the chambers of commerce or trade associations of both countries will help to unlock the potential in bilateral trade.

He sought Estonia’s support and vote for Bangladesh’s candidatures in different international fora.

Masud expressed hope that Estonia as an individual state and with the EU will remain active in mounting pressure on Myanmar to stop violence against Rohingya people, including sustainable return in safety and dignity to their ancestral land.

The meeting was followed by the first bilateral FOC between Bangladesh and Estonia.

Additional Foreign Secretary (Bilateral-East and West) Ambassador Muhammad Nazrul Islam and Ambassador Kristi Karelsohn led their respective sides to the Foreign Office Consultations.

All possible areas of bilateral engagements were discussed in the Foreign Office Consultations including political cooperation, candidatures in different multilateral fora, economic and digital cooperation including cooperation in blue economy and e-governance, ways of trade promotion, cooperation in sustainable development and climate change and educational cooperation.

Both sides also exchanged their views on issues of regional and global security including the situation in Myanmar, Russia-Ukraine war, and the ongoing crisis in Gaza.

The Foreign Office Consultations were followed by an iftar and dinner programme hosted by the additional foreign secretary in honour of Ambassador Karelsohn and her delegation.