Dr. Hassan Mahmud, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, and George Gerapetritis, the Foreign Minister of Greece, have pledged to establish bilateral cooperation in a number of areas, including recruiting, commerce and investment, shipping, immigration and mobility, and manpower.
During a bilateral meeting held on the sidelines of the 9th Our Ocean Conference in Athens, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, they also discussed ways to intensify cooperation in the development of the renewable energy and infrastructure sectors, according to a Foreign Ministry spokesperson.
He said they were happy with the ongoing collaboration and great bilateral ties between the two countries. The Greek Foreign Minister reassured his Bangladeshi colleague that the Greek Government prioritises establishing a diplomatic presence in Dhaka.
Dr. Mahmud asked Gerapetritis to support Bangladeshi exports and encouraged Greek companies to import high-tech, high-quality products from Bangladesh. The Greek minister emphasised the importance of developing an appropriate plan to support the expansion of bilateral trade and investment while also agreeing that bilateral trade must be increased where there are still enormous unrealized potentials.
Dr. Mahmud thanked the Greek Government for legalising more than 10,000 Bangladeshi nationals who were living in Greece under the MoU on Migration and Mobility and called for smooth implementation of the second part of the MoU.
According to the Greek Foreign Minister, Greece favours hiring specialists from Bangladesh due to their diligence and adherence to the law. In the upcoming days, Greece plans to hire a sizable number of Bangladeshi labourers for its construction, tourism, and agriculture sectors.
The two ministers also concurred on the need to establish the legal foundation for productive cooperation in the shipping industry and that real cooperation between the two nations in this field can result in win-win situations since they complement one another.
The Greek Foreign Minister also cordially accepted the invitation of the Bangladesh Foreign Minister to visit Dhaka and mentioned that the visit could be a good option to inaugurate the Greek diplomatic mission there.