Bangladesh-Mexico holds first Foreign Office Consultation

Bangladesh and Mexico expressed their firm convictions in finding new avenues to further deepen the existing friendly bilateral relationship as the two nations held the first-ever Foreign Office Consultation (FOC) virtually on Tuesday.

Director general (America) of Bangladesh Foreign Ministry and Director General (Asia-Pacific) of Mexican Foreign Ministry Ambassador Claudia Franco Hijuelos led the FOC on behalf of their respective sides, a Foreign Ministry press release said on Wednesday.

The entire gamut of bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Mexico were discussed during the meeting focusing on economy and trade, exchanges between foreign service academies, bilateral cooperation in cultural, gender equality, defence, and tourism including visa exemption for diplomatic and official passport holders.

Bangladesh delegation stressed the importance of regular exchange of high-level visits and increased engagements to further foster the friendly ties between the two countries.

Bangladesh requested for opening a resident mission of Mexico in Dhaka in near future. Mexican proposed to form a Parliamentary Friendship Group between lawmakers of two countries.

In the area of trade and investment, Bangladesh highlighted the impressive investment possibilities and benefits provided by the government to foreign investors.

In response, the Mexican side showed its keen interest in the sector of construction and auto parts industries in Bangladesh.

Terming economic affairs as a key aspect and one of the priorities in foreign policy, both sides agreed to create a Joint Working Group between the governments to explore the potential untapped areas and take advantage of their respective economic opportunities.

Referring to the recently concluded Memorandum of Understanting (MOU) between COMCE and the FBCCI in September 2021, both sides stressed their frequent engagements even in virtual platforms in the coming days.

With regards to the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters, the Mexican side conveyed that upon review of the draft agreement, they will share it with its Bangladesh counterparts for their consideration.

Under the segment of bilateral cooperation, MoU between Diplomatic Academies, Promotion of gender equality, MoU on cooperation in the field of culture as well as cooperation in the field of higher education were discussed.

The issue of gender equality featured prominently during the discussion and both sides agreed to work closely and share their best practices to promote gender equality in their respective organizations and countries.

To improve the people-to-people contacts, Bangladesh requested the Mexican government to establish a Visa Facilitation Services (VFS) Centre in Dhaka or adopt any other mechanisms so that Bangladesh nationals could provide all the required information including the biometrics without traveling to India.