Bangladesh Foreign Minister begins his four-country Nordic tour from Oslo
DHAKA, Sept. 4 (NsNewsWire) –Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, MP reached Oslo, as part of his four-country Nordic visit, and held bilateral official talks with the Norwegian Foreign Minister Børge Brende on 03 September.
This is the first bilateral talks between foreign ministers of the two countries after almost a decade. Among others, Bangladesh Ambassador accredited to Norway, with residence in Stockholm, Golam Sarwar and Director General (Europe) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Khorshed A. Khastagir, Norwegian Ambassador to Bangladesh Merete Lunddum were present during the talks. Two ministers discussed about whole range of bilateral as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest.
Norway lauded Bangladesh Government’s actions against terrorism and violent extremism
Minister Ali, on behalf of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, conveyed thanks to the Norwegian Prime Minister for showing sympathy and solidarity with Bangladesh after recent terrorist attack at a Gulshan Cafe. Referring to the terrorist attack, the Norwegian Foreign Minister lauded that the “Bangladesh Government has done a lot in two months” in line with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ‘zero tolerance policy’ against terrorism. Two countries vowed to fight together the global menace of terrorism and violent extremism.
Minister Ali expressed happiness at the increased/growing interest from Norwegian companies to invest more in Bangladesh. He opined that there exists huge potential for mutually beneficial joint ventures or business opportunities in different emerging/thrust sectors in Bangladesh like offshore oil and gas, shipbuilding/recycling, ICT, power generation and distribution, renewable energy, blue economy and so on.
Two foreign ministers also discussed how to revitalize the bilateral relations in line with the global transformative 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development and emphasized on developing a strategic partnership in that regard to reap the mutually inclusive benefits of this historic global undertaking.
Norwegian Foreign Minister to Visit Bangladesh in February 2017
Norwegian Foreign Minister accepted the invitation of Bangladesh Foreign Minister to visit Bangladesh. At the suggestion of the Bangladesh Minister his Norwegian counterpart agreed to undertake the visit on 21 February 2017, commemorating the International Mother Language Day.
Meetings with private sector representatives
Foreign Minister met with the delegation of Telenor, a mobile phone operator with strong global presence and having majority share owned by the Norwegian Government. Group President and CEO Sigve Brekke briefed the minister and his delegation about Telenor’s future plan in Bangladesh. Scatec, a globally reputed company for large scale solar power projects, gave a presentation to Minister Ali about their proposed US$ 800 million investment plan to generate around 500 MW power from solar installations in different parts of Bangladesh. Scatec CEO Raymond Carlsen informed that they submitted detailed proposal today in Bangladesh to the Ministry of Power and Energy & Mineral Resources.
Meeting with Bangladesh Community
Foreign Minister Ali also exchanged views with the Bangladesh community living in Norway, when a delegation met with him yesterday at a local hotel.
The Foreign Minister is scheduled to visit Denmark (4-6 September), Iceland (7 September) and Sweden (8-9) and will hold bilateral official talks with respective foreign ministers with a view to revitalize our bilateral cooperation including exploring new areas of cooperation.