Historic visit of Minister Selaković to Bangladesh

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Nikola Selaković met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh Abdul Momen in Dhaka today, and the meeting was assessed as historic, as the two countries marked half a century of relations this year. This was the first time a Serbian Foreign Minister had visited Bangladesh.

“Not only is this the first Serbian ministerial visit in half a century, not only are we celebrating 50 years of relations, but through the agreements reached and treaties signed we have also shown a strong desire to work much harder in the future to make the relations and friendship between our two countries more effective", Minister Selaković said at the press conference following the meeting.

Minister Selaković emphasised that Serbia and Bangladesh were two friendly countries and that this friendship dated back a long time, reminding of the fact that cooperation between the two countries resulted, among other things, in the support of the former Yugoslavia to Bangladesh in joining important international organisations such as the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement.

“The two countries are good friends, but our friendship and partnership have not had more tangible results for a long time, and that is one of the reasons why our talks today were very good, concrete, and effective", he said.

Today, as Minister Selaković explained, was an opportunity to discuss plans to encourage cooperation, and agreements were signed on political consultations between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs and the abolition of visas for the diplomatic and official passport holders. “By signing these documents, we have opened the door to further cooperation between the two friendly countries”, he noted, adding that the topic of establishing direct ties between the Chambers of Commerce was also discussed, as business cooperation was an opportunity to satisfy mutual interest and raise economic ties to a much higher level.

Minister Selaković stated that Bangladesh was a country “with a big heart” and pointed out that he would inform all those who could contribute to improving the development of relations between the two countries about the hospitality extended to him. “A country with such human potential as yours has great future prospects, and we want to contribute in some way to the fulfilment of that potential. That is why we have offered scholarships to the young people of Bangladesh to study in Serbia. We already have young people from more than 50 countries currently studying in Serbia. We want more students from Bangladesh at Serbian universities, so that we may facilitate even better connections between the two peoples in the future”, Minister Selaković said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh Abdul Momen expressed his belief that the abolition of visas for the diplomatic and official passport holders, and political consultations between the two Foreign Ministries would help further bilateral relations and create new foundations for cooperation between the two countries. According to him, the two Foreign Ministries would also help identify the products and services which could help improve trade cooperation, and facilitate cooperation between the respective Chambers of Commerce and the signing of agreements which would enable better economic cooperation.

Minister Momen thanked Minister Selaković for the warm hospitality shown to him the year before in Belgrade, when he attended the gathering marking the jubilee of the first Non-Aligned Movement conference.

Minister Selaković begun his visit to Bangladesh at the Memorial Museum of the Father of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and by giving a lecture entitled “Serbia and Bangladesh: Half a Century of Bilateral Relations” at the Academy of Foreign Affairs.