Rt Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP, Minister of State (Indo-Pacific) at the FCDO, UK, met with Hon’ble Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud, MP at MOFA on 08 May 2024.
The Hon’ble Foreign Minister fondly recalled Bangabandhu’s first historic visit to the UK on 8 January 1972 immediately after being released from the Pakistani captivity that formed the base of the friendly ties of the two countries.
The British Minister of State expressed delight over the improved traffic condition in Dhaka and completion of mega infrastructure projects, such as metro rail, 3rd terminal of the airport and express way etc. She highly praised the Bangladesh community living in the UK and their entrepreneurship efforts in different sectors including in culinary business. She congratulated Bangladesh’s upcoming graduation from LDC status in 2026 and assured of her government’s support during and after this economic transition. She commended Bangladesh for generously hosting the Rohingyas and affirmed continuous British political and financial support in this regard, including the recent one of 12 million pounds.
The Hon’ble Foreign Minister expressed satisfaction over expanding trade between the two countries that reached a landmark height of 6 billion USD last year, and thanked the UK government for its support towards Bangladesh’s development efforts and being the highest FDI source for Bangladesh in 2023. He requested for preferential and duty-free quota-free market access for Bangladeshi exportable, including apparels, into the British market until 2032 to support sustainable transition. He apprised the British State Minister that Bangladesh has set a target of producing at least 40% of its energy from renewable sources by 2041 and has started working through different projects including solar, wind, tides, waste-to-energy etc. to achieve the target. He hoped that the UK will be beside Bangladesh in its climate actions. He underlined that the only solution to this protracted Rohingya crisis lies in the safe, sustainable and dignified return of the Rohingyas to Myanmar and requested the British State Minister for their active political support in it.
The two Ministers further discussed cooperation in the areas of migration and skills development, capacity building, ease of doing business, rural development, climate and environmental challenges, green energy, aviation, defence, etc.