Dhaka and Jakarta on Wednesday vowed to work together in the energy, agriculture and health sectors as Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin had a bilateral meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Jakarta.
"Bangladesh and Indonesia earlier signed three MoUs (memorandum of understanding) on the energy and health sectors that created a huge opportunity to work for the welfare of the two countries," Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said in a media briefing after the meeting.
The Bangladesh president is now on a visit to Indonesia to attend the 43rd summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the 18th 'East Asia Summit' at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC).
According to Momen, Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin at the bilateral meeting expressed heartiest gratitude to his Indonesian counterpart for inviting him and providing excellent hospitality to the Bangladesh delegation.
The Indonesian President highly appreciated Bangladesh's progress in the health sector, especially in the 'community clinic' concept designed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina which gained worldwide appreciation.
He also referred to the tremendous development of different socio-economic diapason in Bangladesh.
Mohammed Shahabuddin said Indonesia can import international-standard pharmaceutical products, ceramic and Readymade Garments (RMG) items from Bangladesh.
He also invited Indonesian investors to come up with robust investment in Bangladesh due to the consistency of its investment-friendly atmosphere for the last decade.
"An initiative is there to ensure a mutual decision to recognize the certificate of the physicians of the two countries," Dr Momen quoted the President as saying at the bilateral talks.
Mohammed Shahabuddin noted that Bangladesh is setting up as many as 100 Special Economic Zones (SEZs), 39 Hi-Tech Parks and other specialized Economic Zones in the country.
He said, "If Indonesia is interested, Bangladesh would be happy to designate a place in the economic zone for it".
Bangladesh aspires to transform into a manufacturing hub located at the junction of South Asia and South East Asia and its goal is to be a trillion-dollar economy by the end of this decade, he said.
The Bangladesh President stressed the larger collaboration between the two countries’ private sectors to avail opportunities for investment.
He encouraged the Indonesian investors and business community to capitalise on the huge opportunity that is prevailing in Bangladesh for the mutual benefit of the two countries.
He also expressed his hope that direct air connectivity between Dhaka and Jakarta or Bali would be established soon and an opportunity would be created to launch shipping between the seaports of the two states.
Turning to the Rohingya issue, the Bangladesh Head of State sought all-out support from the Indonesian government and the people to solve it, saying, "Bangladesh sheltered displaced Myanmar nationals on humanitarian grounds".
The Indonesian President said the issue of Rohingya repatriation was broadly discussed in the ASEAN meetings and also got assurance of providing necessary assistance in this regard.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin sought further cooperation from the ASEAN chair and other concerned to be designated as an ASEAN Sectoral Dialogue Partner.
He also expressed satisfaction with the existing bilateral relations between the two countries.
He said Bangladesh highly values its relations with Indonesia as it was one of the first Muslim countries to recognize Bangladesh during the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's tenure.
