Mexican Deputy Foreign Minister Carmen Moreno Toscano has lauded Bangladesh for its extraordinary accomplishments in women empowerment.
She expressed her admiration during a bilateral meeting with Bangladesh State Minister Md Shahriar Alam at the Mexican Foreign Office (SRE) on Monday morning.
In the meeting, the state minister briefed her on the extraordinary successes Bangladesh has achieved in recent years not only in women empowerment but also in attaining Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Shahriar Alam, who arrived in Mexico City on September 25, participated in the celebration of the 200th year anniversary of Mexican independence on Monday evening at the invitation from the Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Apart from the official delegation led by the state minister, a 39-member military contingent from Bangladesh performed at the celebratory parade in Mexico City on September 16, and a 14-member cultural troupe is also visiting the country to showcase Bangladesh’s rich cultural heritage there.
During the bilateral meeting, the Mexican deputy foreign minister thanked Bangladesh’s state minister for accepting the invitation and attending the celebration ceremony.
While thanking the Bangladesh government for sending the military contingent as well as the cultural troupe, she conveyed that a small military contingent from Mexico would participate in the parade of the closing ceremony of the golden jubilee celebration of Bangladesh’s independence and the 100th birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
State Minister Shahriar Alam put emphasis on the importance of regular holding of foreign office consultations (FOC) between two governments as per the memorandum of understanding signed between the governments six years ago, underscoring that Bangladesh remains flexible with the modalities of holding such consultation in near future.
He also stressed the early conclusion of the MoU between two countries for visa exemption of diplomatic and official passports, and also proposed for engagement between the diplomatic training academies of both the countries including learning of Spanish language.
In addition, the state minister thanked Mexico for its strong support to Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue and expressed satisfaction at support and cooperation extended by Mexico at the multilateral arena.
Shahriar Alam informed the Mexican deputy foreign minister that a small business delegation is accompanying him who intends to connect with their counterparts in the country.
He opined that two countries may initiate and conclude MoUs in different areas, including in the area of double taxation.
Carmen Moreno proposed that FOC can be initiated virtually at the level of director general and also expressed her government’s willingness to conclude the almost finalised MoU of mutual administrative assistance in customs matters.
She also underlined the enhancement of cultural cooperation by concluding an MoU.
She agreed to explore the possibilities of language training and expressed interest to conclude an MoU with the two diplomatic training institutes including the exchange of diplomats.
Both of them also discussed their respective country’s Covid-19 situation and management.
At the sideline of the celebration programme, Shahriar Alam had a brief meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who is also visiting Mexico to attend the celebration, and discussed issues of mutual interest.
