FM in Brussels to join EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum Friday

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud will attend the 3rd EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum which will be held in Brussels, Belgium on 2 February.

The foreign minister, who is currently visiting Brussels, will have meetings with High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission Josep Borrell and European Commissioner for Crisis Management Jenaz Lenarcic on the sidelines of the forum, Spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Seheli Sabrin told reporters on Thursday.

He will also have meetings with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Luxembourg during his visit from 1-4 February, she said.

The foreign minister is also scheduled to have meetings with his counterparts from Belgium, Austria, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal, Vietnam and Sweden, said the spokesperson.

"Let's see how many meetings we can accommodate," said the foreign minister before his departure on Wednesday, recalling that he had 17 bilateral meetings within two days on the sidelines of the NAM Summit held in Uganda recently.

The foreign minister will return to Dhaka on Sunday evening.

High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission Josep Borrell will chair the forum.

The EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum will bring together the EU and its Member States with countries from the East coast of Africa in the West to the Pacific islands in the East.

The EU and Indo-Pacific partners will discuss how to address the increasing number of complex economic, environmental, geopolitical, and security challenges that affect both regions.

It will include an opening plenary session, three roundtable discussions and a closing session.

The Brussels Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum builds on the success of the previous two EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forums held in Paris in February 2022 and in Stockholm in May 2023.

It will provide a platform for dialogue, for shaping a collective vision for the region's future and for identifying practical ways to enhance cooperation and deepen solidarity.

Europe and the Indo-Pacific are highly interconnected and interdependent, that is why the EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum serves as a crucial platform for fostering dialogue and cooperation between Europe and the Indo-Pacific.

The Indo-Pacific region is of key strategic importance, both in economic and geopolitical terms.

The 2021 EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific sets out how the EU is stepping up collaboration with Indo-Pacific partners to contribute to the region's stability, security and prosperity.

It is clear that close cooperation is the key to addressing these challenges effectively, achieving sustainable economic growth, and strengthening resilience to shocks and disruptions, according to the European Union.

The digital economy, in particular, holds the potential for significant innovation and growth, it said.