On 3 October 2024, Ambassador of Brazil to Bangladesh H.E. Paulo Fernando Dias Feres, paid a maiden courtesy call on Foreign Secretary Md. Jashim Uddin. During the meeting, the Foreign Secretary recalled Brazil being the first country in South America to have recognized Bangladesh just after the liberation and thanked Brazil for the continuous support toward the democratic journey of Bangladesh. He also said that Bangladesh wants to work with Brazil to further strengthening the political and economic relations for the benefit of both the nations and to take the existing bilateral relations to a new height. Foreign Secretary applauded the Brazilian Ambassador for contributing to the burgeoning engagements between Bangladesh and Brazil in a plethora of areas in a relatively very short span of time.
Ambassador Feres extended his thanks to the Foreign Secretary for the call and briefed about the Mission’s works and achievements in the last few years. He expressed that Bangladesh has generated much interest in Brazil through its economic growth and engagements with Brazil including three Brazilian trade missions to Dhaka and in particular, the official visit of the Brazilian Foreign Minister to Dhaka in 2024. While he mentioned the enthusiastic business people of Bangladesh that have been engaging with Brazil are doing really well despite the Brazilian tariff, he also encouraged other Bangladeshi business people to visit Brazil and engage with the Brazilian businessmen. Ambassador Feres informed that Bangladesh is yet to tap the potential to access to Brazilian animal protein, particularly beef. He suggested that Bangladesh may look into the trade to provide low-cost nutrition solution through Brazilian meat for Bangladeshi people.
Recognizing Brazil as a powerhouse of an economy in South America and in the world, both sides agreed to reducing the existing trade gap between the two countries and expressed keen interest to further collaboration in areas such as agriculture and agro-processing industry, trade facilitation of Bangladeshi RMG, apparel and pharma products, public health system, regulatory and policy frameworks, capacity building and skill development, project financing, among others. Both sides agreed on increased exchanges of business delegations and trade Missions as a part of amplifying people-to-people contact.
Foreign Secretary highlighted on the arrangement of the third bilateral political consultation (FOC) that Bangladesh is scheduled to host next time. He assured the Ambassador of the Ministry’s full support in facilitating the engagements with the relevant stakeholders, while the Ambassador expressed his appreciation for the continued cooperation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Relevant officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were also present at the meeting.