Bangladesh, Turkey to hold FM-level talks Friday to strengthen strategic engagement
The two sides are expected to discuss ways to further strengthen cooperation in trade, defense industry, energy, education, culture, science and health.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Hakan Fidan will meet his Bangladesh counterpart Dr Khalilur Rahman tomorrow (5 June) in Dhaka as the two countries eye expanding strategic engagement, in addition to strengthening trade and investment relations.
The Turkish foreign minister is paying a two-day visit to Bangladesh at the invitation of Foreign Minister Khalilur, a senior official told UNB, noting that bilateral issues, including trade, security, regional developments, will be discussed.
The Turkish foreign minister, who arrived in Dhaka on Thursday night (June 4), will also meet Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and visit the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
The visit will mark Fidan's first trip to Bangladesh.
He is scheduled to inspect humanitarian assistance projects carried out by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), the Turkish Red Crescent, the Turkish Diyanet Foundation and Türkiye's Health Ministry, and visit the Turkish Field Hospital operating in the camps.
The two sides are expected to discuss ways to further strengthen cooperation in trade, defence industry, energy, education, culture, science and health.
The two countries are keen to increase bilateral trade volume from $1.35 billion in 2025 to $2 billion.
Foreign Minister Khalilur, along with PM's Foreign Affairs Adviser Humaiun Kobir, returned from New York on Thursday.
Fidan and Khalilur Rahman held a bilateral meeting at the former's office in Ankara on 14 March.
Both sides expressed optimism that the outcomes of the meeting would contribute to further strengthening cooperation and deepening the strategic partnership between Türkiye and Bangladesh in the years ahead.
Bangladesh highlighted the importance of enhancing Turkish investment in Bangladesh and emphasised the prospects for expanding skilled human resource exports from Bangladesh to Türkiye.
Türkiye reiterated its commitment to maintaining friendly and brotherly relations with Bangladesh in both bilateral and multilateral fora.
Humaiun Kobir was also present during the meeting in Ankara.
This marked the first bilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries following the formation of the BNP government in Bangladesh.
During the meeting, both sides discussed the entire spectrum of bilateral relations.
They reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening the long-standing friendly and brotherly relations.
The two sides also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest and expressed their shared commitment to working together in support of peace efforts concerning Gaza.
Notably, to enhance institutional cooperation in diplomatic training and capacity building, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Diplomacy Academy of Türkiye and the Bangladesh Foreign Service Academy during the bilateral meeting.
