Bangladesh working to open direct trade with Serbia: Foreign minister

Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday said Bangladesh is working to establish direct trade relations with the Central European country Serbia.

The Serbian foreign minister will visit Dhaka soon and these issues will be finalised during the trip, he said.

Abdul Momen made these remarks while addressing a book-unveiling event as the chief guest at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka, said a press release.

A travelogue titled ‘Serbia: Shuvro Shohorer Deshe’ authored by Imdad Haque, was unveiled at the event.

Presided over by former principal secretary of the Prime Minister's Office and Ekushey Padak recipient poet Kamal Chowdhury, president of ACI Agro Business FH Ansari addressed the event while Bangla Academy Award winning writers Iktiyar Chowdhury and Sadhana Ahmed discussed the book. Mazharul Islam, chief executive of Anyaprokash, and writer Imdad Haque delivered the address of welcome.

Addressing the event, minister Abdul Momen said there is a huge demand for Bangladeshi products in Serbia. Since there is no direct trade relation between Serbia and Bangladesh, people from this central European country buy Bangladeshi leather and garment products from Germany or Italy at higher prices.

Abdul Momen went on saying a lot of development is happening in Serbia and the country requires more workforces. Serbia is taking big development projects on the bank of the river Danube, creating lots of jobs for electricians and construction workers.

Serbia also wants to hire workers, but people in Bangladesh need to go India for a Serbian visa and that is a big hassle. Serbia, however, sent a consular team from Delhi to Dhaka and they issued about 3,500 visas for Bangladeshi, he added.

Writer Imdad Haque began his career in journalism. Currently, he is the Assistant Private Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. This is Imdad Haque's second book. He got acquainted with a Serbian girl during a trip to various natural-historical sites in the country. It was not exactly a love or nothing less than a love. In this book, he discussed Serbia’s history, tradition, economy, agriculture, education system, sports, etc.

Imdad Haque started journalism while studying at Jahangirnagar University. His first book was 'Campus Reporting: Sangbadikorat Hatekhari'. Both of his books are available at Rokomari.