Brazil’s foreign minister due today

Mauro Vieira, foreign minister of Brazil, will arrive in Dhaka today on a two-day visit to bolster trade and investment relations between the two countries.

Following the Russia-Ukraine war, the two countries are exploring new avenues of trade and investments in recent times.

During Vieira's visit, Bangladesh and Brazil may sign a technical cooperation agreement and three memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on agriculture, sports and defence, foreign ministry officials said.

Today, Minister Vieira will hold meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart Hasan Mahmud. Tomorrow, he will call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Vieira will be accompanied by a big business delegation, which will meet the leaders of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).

Tomorrow, he will also visit the pharmaceutical factories of Square and Beximco in Gazipur, and deliver a lecture at the Foreign Service Academy on Brazil's priority areas as the current chair at G20.

Bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Brazil has increased to $2.72 billion in 2023 from $1.52 billion in 2021. Of this, Bangladesh's exports to Brazil are worth $200 million.

Bangladesh imports soybean and soybean oil, cotton and sugar from Brazil, while exports mainly readymade garments to it.

"Bangladesh has lots of potentials for increasing exports including pharmaceutical products and jute," a foreign ministry official said.

Brazil, a leading beef producer, wants to export beef to Bangladesh at affordable prices of around Tk 500 per kg, he also said, adding that Bangladesh is yet to decide in this regard.

Brazil is also offering Bangladesh high quality cattle for milk and beef production. Bangladesh can emulate Brazil's good agricultural practices as well, the official said.

Brazil can also provide Bangladesh with training and field preparation for football as well as sports medicine, he added.