Dhaka, Paris sign two instruments

Dhaka and Paris on Monday signed two bilateral instruments (agreements/MoU) to enhance cooperation in different fields including infrastructure and satellite, officials said.

The documents were inked in presence of prime minister Sheikh Hasina and French president Emmanuel Macron at Karobi Hall of the prime minister’s office in the city.

The instruments are:

1. A credit facility agreement between economic relations division (ERD), Bangladesh and the France development agency (AFD), France on ‘improving urban governance and infrastructure programme’.

2. Letter of intent (LOI) on cooperation between Bangladesh satellite company limited (BSCL) and airbus defence and space SAS, France related to Bangabandhu-2 earth observation satellite system.

Earlier, Hasina and Macron held talks to explore new areas of cooperation between the two countries.

Macron, the first French president to visit Bangladesh in 33 years, arrived in Dhaka on Sunday evening after attending the G20 summit in Indian capital, New Delhi.

The French leader is scheduled to leave Dhaka at 2:00pm today (on Monday). Francois Mitterrand was the last French president to visit Bangladesh on 22-24 February, 1990.

Total trade between Bangladesh and France soared from 210M€ to 4.9 billion€ today with France being the 5th export destination for Bangladesh.

French companies are now involved in various sectors including engineering, energy, aerospace and water sectors in Bangladesh.