President Mohammed Shahabuddin on Thursday sought Myanmar’s support and co-operation in strengthening regional ties as Bangladeshis is going to take over as chair of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation in September.
He said while newly appointed Myanmar ambassador to Bangladesh Kao So Mo presented his credentials to the president.
Welcoming the new ambassador of Myanmar, President Shahabuddin said that Myanmar was the closest neighbour of Bangladesh.
He said that Bangladesh prioritised the development of relations with different countries of the world.
The president said that although the government had given shelter to the forcibly displaced people from Myanmar on humanitarian grounds, it was currently a big problem for Bangladesh.
He expressed hope that Myanmar would create the environment so that these forcibly displaced people could return to their motherland safely and with dignity.
President Sahabuddin urged the new ambassador to work to explore the existing trade and investment opportunities between Bangladesh and Myanmar as well.
Mentioning that Bangladesh will take over as the chairman of BIMSTEC next September, the president said that Bangladesh would work closely with Myanmar to strengthen BIMSTEC.
The president also said that Bangladesh wanted to become a dialogue partner of ASEAN. He sought Myanmar’s support and co-operation in this regard.
During the meeting, the new ambassador of Myanmar sought the full co-operation of the president in discharging his duties.
He said his country was working to solve the problems caused by the displaced people from Myanmar.
The ambassador of Myanmar said that he would inform his government about Bangladesh’s concern in this regard and would take initiatives to solve the problem.
Secretaries to the president’s office were also present during the meeting.
