Bangladesh and Montenegro to form Parliamentary Friednship Group
State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh Shama Obaed Islam, MP, stressed on strengthening relations between Bangladesh and Montenegro. Mr Gordan Stojovic, Parliament Member of Montenegro called on the State Minister this morning at her office. During the meeting they discussed and emphasized the formation of Bangladesh-Montenegro Parliamentary Friendship Group to widen relationship of parliaments, enhance parliamentary diplomacy, exchange of delegations, and improve people-to-people contacts.
Mentioning as there is ample potential to enhance bilateral trade they emphasized to diversify products and overcome challenges to boost two-way trade. Mentioning Montenegro as an importing country, the Montenegrin Parliament Member indicated that his country might import more items from Bangladesh not only the ready-made garments but also the pharmaceuticals, leather and leather products, ceramics, and jute and jute products. State Minister highlighted the investment opportunities in Bangladesh, particularly in sectors such as agriculture, agro-food processing, sea food, eco-tourism, ready-made garments, renewable energy and waste management, and the Montenegrin political leader indicated the possibility of their investment in areas such as renewable energy. Mentioning Montenegro as a significant regional country in tourism, the Montenegrin Parliament Member also expressed their readiness for joint collaboration and investment in development of tourism sector in Bangladesh.
During the meeting, the leaders also discussed about cooperation and partnership in various sectors and issues, including education, women empowerment, sports and culture, manpower and employment opporttunities, human mobility and migration, visa facilitation, and deepening engagement in international organizations on thematic issues such as climate change.
The State Minister mentioned that the Government of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has been striving to increase legal migraton of skilled manpower from Bangladesh. She further mentioned that Bangladesh has a vast pool of skilled manpower, including IT professionals, engineers, construction workers and healthcare personnel. The Montenegrin Parliamentarian mentioned that they need over 50 thousands of such manpower every year and responded positively that they might recruit manpower from Bangladesh with G-2-G agreements to meet Montenegro’s labour needs in sectors like tourism, construction, hospitality, and medical caregiving. Both the Parliamentarians opined to streamline work permit processes and labour mobility agreements to facilitate the contributions of Bangladeshi workers to Montenegro’s economy. They also stressed to fully utilize the potential of regional connectivity of Montenegro in the Baltic region and beyond to explore untapped potential for enhancing cooperation between Bangladesh and Montenegro.
