Bangladesh, Botswana sign agreement on visa exemption, MoU on political consultations

Bangladesh and Botswana have signed an agreement on visa exemption for holders of diplomatic and official passports and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on bilateral political consultations.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam had bilateral talks with his Botswana counterpart Lemogang Kwape in Gaborone Thursday.

The state minister is on a two-day visit to Botswana, marking the first official bilateral visit from the foreign ministry.

The Bangladesh high commissioner accredited to Botswana and officials of the foreign ministry were also present at the meeting.

The Botswana foreign minister called Shahriar's visit symbolic of the mutual desire to strengthen the relations.

Botswana and Bangladesh may share experience in economic areas and identify concrete areas of cooperation, Lemogang said.

Both sides are cooperating at international platforms like the UN and Commonwealth and supporting each other at the bodies, he added.

Lemogang also expressed a desire to visit Bangladesh soon.

Shahriar reaffirmed Bangladesh's keen interest to develop relations with Botswana.

He described Bangladesh's achievements in climate adaptation, mitigation, women empowerment and MDGs areas as well as its sustained efforts to achieve the targets of SDGs.

Referring to the excellent bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Botswana at bilateral and multilateral levels, he sought the support of the country's government at the UN elections where Bangladesh has floated candidature.

Bangladesh would be happy to share its knowledge with Botswana in the agriculture and textile sectors where it has a comparative advantage, Shahriar said.

Both sides may forge cooperation in food safety and food security, he added.

He proposed setting up contract farming in Botswana for the mutual benefit of the two countries as Botswana has plenty of uncultivated lands.

Both sides agreed to celebrate 50 years of their diplomatic relations by organising different programmes in Gaborone and Dhaka.