Bangladesh and Indonesia have agreed on the robust and multifaceted relationships in the bilateral context as well as in the multilateral arena, reaffirming the need for a shared journey of growth and development for the betterment of the two nations.
Both the brotherly nations came to this understanding at a bilateral meeting between Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo on Wednesday on the sidelines of the 43rd ASEAN Summit being held in Jakarta.
The two leaders engaged in a comprehensive and fruitful discussion reflecting on the robust and multifaceted relationships in the bilateral context as well as in the
multilateral arena.
They reaffirmed the need for a shared journey of growth and development for the betterment of the two brotherly nations.
Both leaders stressed upon the need for fostering a greater collaboration between the private sectors and exploring ways to reduce the existing trade gap.
They also reaffirmed their commitment to advancing the relationship between their nations further and contributing to regional stability and prosperity.
At the meeting, President Mohammad Shahabuddin emphasised on establishing direct air connectivity to facilitate bilateral business growth and to encourage more people to people contact.
The Bangladesh President appreciated Indonesia’s continuous support in addressing the issue of Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals.
While both leaders emphasized on the importance of repatriation of the FDMNs, Bangladesh President sought deeper engagement of Indonesia and ASEAN in repatriating these hapless people to their homeland which his Indonesian counterpart assured him of.
President Shahabuddin also requested Indonesia's continuous and active support for Bangladesh's bid for the status of ASEAN Sectoral Dialogue Partner.
The Bangladesh President extended his invitation to the Indonesian President to visit Bangladesh at his earliest opportunity.
Mentionable, the Bangladesh President reached Jakarta on Monday, at the invitation of Joko Widodo, to attend the 43rd ASEAN Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit.
Bangladesh and Indonesia concluded three memorandums of understanding on energy, health and agriculture sectors during his visit.
Earlier this week, the Foreign Ministers of Bangladesh and Indonesia witnessed an MoU signing ceremony in Jakarta between Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as the Chairs of the two organizations respectively.
According to Foreign Minster AK Abdul Momen, President Mohammed Shahabuddin at the bilateral meeting expressed heartiest thanks to his Indonesian counterpart for inviting him and providing excellent hospitality to the Bangladesh delegation.
The Indonesian President also highly appreciated Bangladesh's development in the health sector, especially in the 'Community Clinic' concept designed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that gained worldwide appreciation on a larger scale.
He also referred to the tremendous development of different socio-economic sectors in Bangladesh.
Mohammed Shahabuddin said Indonesia can import international-standard pharmaceutical products, ceramic and Readymade Garments (RMG) items from Bangladesh.
He also invited the Indonesian investors to come up with robust investment in Bangladesh due to the consistency of its investment-friendly atmosphere for the last one decade.
"An initiative is there to ensure a mutual decision to recognize the certificates of the physicians of the two countries," DrMomen quoted the President as saying at the bilateral talks.
Mohammed Shahabuddin noted that Bangladesh is setting up as many as 100 Special Economic Zones (SEZs), 39 Hi-Tech Parks and other specialized Economic Zones in the country.
He said, "If Indonesia is interested, Bangladesh would be happy to designate a place in the economic zone for it".
Bangladesh aspires to transform into a manufacturing hub being located at the junction of South Asia and SouthEast Asia and its goal is to be a trillion-dollar economy by the end of this decade, he said.
The Indonesian President said the issue of Rohingya repatriation was broadly discussed in the ASEAN meetings and also got assurance of providing necessary assistance in this regard.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin sought further cooperation of ASEAN chair and others concerned to ensure the membership of ASEAN Sectoral Dialogue Partner.
