The First round of Bilateral Consultations between Bangladesh and the Czech Republic was held on 03 December 2024 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. The Foreign Secretary Ambassador Md. Jashim Uddin and Mr. Jiří Kozák, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic led their respective delegations in the bilateral consultations.
At the onset, the Foreign Secretary briefed his counterpart on the July-August student-citizens-led revolution. He further outlined the vision and ongoing reform initiatives undertaken by the Interim Government to restore accountability and transparency in governance in Bangladesh.
During the consultations, the two sides had in-depth discussions to identify areas of cooperation to deepen existing bilateral relations. Both the Foreign Secretary and Czech Deputy Foreign Minister noted that there is potential to expand bilateral trade further. The Foreign Secretary underscored the need to hold the First meeting of the Joint Commission on Trade Promotion and Economic Cooperation soon to achieve the objectives of the Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation signed between Bangladesh and the Czech Republic in 2019. He recalled the signing of an MoU between the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber and Industry (FBCCI) and the Czech Chamber of Commerce in 2013 and emphasized the necessity of functional interaction between the chambers and SMEs of the two countries to identify potential investment opportunities. He also urged his counterpart to facilitate the issuance of business visas. He further requests the Deputy Minister to consider signing a draft Agreement between the government of Bangladesh and the Czech Republic on reciprocal promotion and protection of investments.
They agreed to intensify mutually beneficial cooperation in science & technology, ICT, energy, and climate change. Both the Foreign Secretary and the Czech Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed willingness to explore collaboration in the areas of manpower export, means of identifying prospective students for higher education in the Czech Republic and promoting people-to-people contacts. Additionally, views were exchanged on the possible cooperation between the two countries within the framework of the EU.
Prior to the bilateral consultations, Foreign Secretary Ambassador Md. Jashim Uddin met with the State Secretary of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic Mr. Vladimír Mana, Vice President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Radek Jakubsky, and Director-General of the Employment Policy, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic, Ms. Kateřina Štěpánková on 02 December 2024 in Prague.