The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh and Laos on Saturday agreed to strengthen cooperation in trade, investment and tourism sectors. The broad-based agreement came at a meeting between visiting Laotian First Vice-Foreign Minister Phongsavath Boupa and Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossain at state guesthouse Padma.

This is the first high-level official contact between the two countries since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1988. "We discussed how to develop our cooperation in trade, investment and tourism and increase people-to-people contact," Bouph told reporters. He said the two sides agreed in principle to ease the visa regime by offering on-arrival visa for officials and businessmen and exempt visa for holders of diplomatic passport.

Boupa hinted that Laotian businessmen might be interested in buying medicine from Bangladesh considering its quality and price as Laos imports medicines.

The bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Laos is very insignificant to be mentioned as both sides stressed the need for exchange of visits by the businessmen to explore cooperation in promising sectors. The two sides also discussed how to improve connectivity between Bangladesh and Laos, the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia with a six million population.