Bangladesh asks Portugal to ease visa complexities 

Bangladesh emphasised the need of easing the existing visa complexities in the absence of a Portuguese resident Diplomatic Mission in Dhaka. 

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam raised the issue during a bilateral meeting with the Secretary of State (State Minister) for Foreign Affairs & Cooperation of Portugal Francisco André over a luncheon hosted by the Portuguese side in Lisbon on Monday. 

The meeting involved exchange of views on enhancing the bilateral relations in various spheres as well as on some regional and global issues.

State Minister Alam apprised the Secretary of State about the sustained social and economic development of Bangladesh under the watch of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. 

He offered every assistance for ensuring periodic consular services provided to Dhaka. 

The Portuguese Secretary of State commended the Bangladesh expatriate community residing in Portugal as "respected, well integrated community contributing significantly to Portuguese society" and concurred with the suggestions offered. He assured of his personal intervention to create positive conditions for Bangladeshi immigrants to work and stay in Portugal. 

Bangladesh State Minister thanked his counterpart for the continued patronage extended to the Bangladeshi expatriates and praised Portugal for their immigrant friendly approaches. He proposed to the State Secretary to work together to chart an orderly and transparent pathway for Bangladeshi citizens to come and work in Portugal under an agreed framework. 

The Portuguese State Secretary extended his invitation for Bangladesh to participate in the" Second UN Ocean Conference" to be held from 27th June to 1st July 2022. Bangladesh State Minister informed of a possible attendance of a high-level delegation led by the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh.

The two leaders exchanged views on recent regional and global developments. They noted their convergences in their respective approaches to the current world order and reaffirmed their commitments to a stronger UN system and a rule-based world. Bangladesh State Minister informed his counterpart that Bangladesh has always been the supporter of peace, territorial integrity, sovereignty and human rights protection, which reflects into our share of contribution in UN Peacekeeping Missions. 

Bangladesh State Minister termed the European Union as the single largest trading partner of Bangladesh and a role model of regional integration. He expressed hope that the European Union would continue extending its support towards the causes of Bangladesh both at the regional and multilateral forums.

The Portuguese State Secretary briefed about his recent meeting with President Zelensky and Portugal's active ongoing backing to Ukraine. 

As a likeminded nation subscribing to multilateralism and human rights protection, the Portuguese State Minister sought Bangladesh's support for their candidature at the United Nations Security Council for the term 2027-28. 

State Minister Alam expressed his satisfaction on the progress of negotiations on quite a number of agreements in the area of culture, education, direct shipping and the avoidance of double taxation. They also discussed the possibility of introducing Portuguese language courses in Dhaka and the training of Foreign Service Officers of Bangladesh.

The two sides also discussed future cooperation agenda, including high level exchanges, holding Political Consultations at regular intervals and activities to mark the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh-Portugal Diplomatic Relations in 2024. 

The two State Ministers also agreed to deepen cooperation on shipping connectivity, clean energy including green hydrogen, migration and mobility, Blue Economy, exchange of culture, language and knowledge, people to people linkage and enhanced exchange between officials through Diplomatic and language training programmes.  

Bangladesh State Minister extended an invitation to Secretary of State André to visit Bangladesh, which was accepted with pleasure.