Bangladesh for joint efforts to boost connectivity in Central and South Asia

Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen today laid emphasis on establishing ‘good connectivity’ between Central and South Asian nations through road and air connections with trade facilitation for betterment of both the regions, reports BSS.

“Trade facilitation, avoidance of double taxation, visa support and other trade favorable measures would be the ground to ease and expedite the cooperation among our countries,” he said.

Momen made the remarks while delivering his speech at the plenary session of the ongoing international conference on “Central and South Asia: Regional connectivity: Challenges and Opportunities” at Congress Hall in Tashkent in Uzbekistan, a foreign ministry’s press release said here.

The Bangladesh foreign minister said that long-standing common cultural and civil bonds of the Central and South Asian regions serve as the foundation for people-to-people relations through education, tourism and cultural exchange and it can be established both by road and air.

Through combined efforts, Momen said, all states will be able to establish a good connectivity between two regions opening new avenues of cooperation for the benefits.

He said Bangladesh is trying to engage itself in various connectivity projects through road, rail, and sea routes with the neighboring countries.

“We do believe, connectivity is productivity … we have been promoting connectivity among south asian nations,” he said adding that Bangladesh resolved all her disputes with neighbors through dialogues.

He said Dhaka is playing a leading role through Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) to connect Bangladesh with Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal, and Myanmar.

The foreign minister also mentioned that Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and India (BBIN) signed a landmark Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) in 2015 for the regulation of passenger, personnel, and vehicular cargo traffic among these countries.

Momen thanked the Uzbek president to organise the conference for expanding regional cooperation during the challenging pandemic period when the whole world requires coordinated efforts.

During the session. secretary-general of the United Nations Antonio Guterres and president of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, as well as the foreign ministers of participating states and international financial organisations also addressed.

Secretary general of the UN sent a video message on the conference.