Staff Reporter :
Canada and Bangladesh have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral relations, focusing on trade, investment, and development cooperation.
This understanding emerged during a meeting between Canada’s Indo-Pacific Trade Representative Paul Thoppil and Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary Ambassador Md Jashim Uddin, held on Tuesday at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka.
On his second official visit to Bangladesh, Paul Thoppil was accompanied by a high-level business delegation representing major Canadian companies, including Gildan, BlackBerry, Advantech, Bell Helicopter, JCM Power, and Export Development Canada. The Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Ajit Singh, was also present at the meeting.
Both sides discussed expanding economic partnerships and welcomed the continued growth in bilateral trade, which currently stands at USD 3 billion.
The Foreign Secretary highlighted Bangladesh’s ongoing economic reforms and encouraged greater Canadian investment in sectors such as ICT, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, engineering, and renewable energy.
Thoppil conveyed Canadian companies’ growing interest in the Bangladeshi market and underscored the significance of the proposed Foreign Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement (FIPA) in boosting investor confidence. He also expressed openness to initiating discussions on a potential Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in the future.
The Foreign Secretary expressed appreciation for Canada’s Duty-Free Quota-Free (DFQF) market access for Bangladeshi exports and welcomed the progress of technical discussions on FIPA. He also emphasized the need for easing student visa procedures to strengthen educational and people-to-people exchanges.
Humanitarian cooperation was also discussed. The Foreign Secretary thanked Canada for its continued support for Rohingya refugees and called for stronger international efforts to ensure their safe and sustainable repatriation to Myanmar.
The visit underscores Canada’s deepening engagement in the Indo-Pacific region and reflects the growing strategic partnership between Ottawa and Dhaka.
