Bangladesh, EU to ink partnership deal

Bangladesh and the European Union have agreed to sign Partnership Cooperation Agreement at an early date for cooperation in strategic areas.

The commitment came during the Bangladesh-European Union Bilateral Discussion on Sectoral Issues at state guesthouse Padma in Dhaka yesterday.

Shahriar Alam, state minister for foreign affairs, and Helena König, deputy secretary general for economic and global issues, European external action service led the respective sides.

The issue was also discussed at the First Political Dialogue between Bangladesh and the EU in November last year in Dhaka.

As Bangladesh and the EU celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations this year, they want to elevate the relationship from development and economic to political and strategic levels where they want to work together on regional and global issues.

A foreign ministry statement said Bangladesh and the EU sides discussed ways and means to enhance cooperation on important sectors like climate change, energy security, renewable energy, ocean governance, digitalisation and cyber security and knowledge-innovation-infrastructure development under EU's Global Gateway.

EU Ambassador to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley recently told The Daily Star that the EU is planning large loans for development of green technology and infrastructure.

The EU is Bangladesh's largest export destination, with Bangladesh exporting $24 billion worth products annually.