Published on 12:01 AM, January 10, 2003

Vietnam to reopen mission in Dhaka

Vietnam has decided to re-open its mission in Dhaka after 23 years, Foreign Secretary Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury disclosed yesterday.

"Charge d'affaires of the country is expected to arrive here later this month," he told journalists at the foreign ministry, calling the Vietnamese move is "very positive one".

"It's a reflection of our looking East policy," he said.

The Vietnamese resident mission in Dhaka, which was first opened in 1972, was shut down in 1979.

Shamsher told the weekly press briefing at the ministry that re-opening of the mission of Vietnam, which is fast emerging as a major economic player in South East Asia, would strengthen relations between the two countries.

Bangladesh opened its resident mission in Hanoi in 1993.