BD, Nepal sign MoU Tuesday

DHAKA: Bangladesh and Nepal is set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on July 31.

Nepalese Foreign Secretary Durga Prasad Bhattarai will arrive in Dhaka on Monday in this regard, foreign ministry sources said Sunday.

The MoU will provide a permanent framework for holding regular foreign office consultations (FOC) between the foreign secretaries of the two countries once in a year in order to review the status of bilateral relations and device ways for further promotion of bilateral trade and investments.

Foreign Secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes told journalists at a briefing at his ministry: “The foreign secretary of Nepal is coming Monday and we are going to sign a MoU for FOC on Tuesday.”

Mijarul Quayes said the entire gamut of bilateral relations would be discussed and reviewed during Tuesday`s meeting here.

It will mainly focus on regional connectivity, introduction of bus services, joint projects for hydro-electricity, and uses of Bangladesh ports by landlocked Nepal.

Director General of External Publicity Wing Syed Masud M Khundaker and Director General of South Asia Desk of Foreign Ministry Mashfee Binte Shams were present on the occasion.

The Nepalese foreign secretary is due to lead a five- member delegation to Bangladesh, which has exported products of Taka 56 crore to Nepal in 200-10 fiscal, while made an import of Taka 298 crore.

BDST: 2045 HRS, JUL 29, 2012
Edited by: M. Mahbub Alam, Asst Output Editor