DHAKA, 27 September 2005 — Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia yesterday said Dhaka and Yangon should work together to exploit the resources of both the countries for the prosperity of the people of both the nations, sources said.
The prime minister met the visiting high-level Myanmarese delegation, led by Myanmar’s Chief of General Staff Gen. Thura Shwe Mann. Khaleda said Myanmar is a close neighbor of Bangladesh and it gives due importance to its relations with Myanmar.
On repatriation of the leftover Rohingya Muslim refugees from Bangladesh, Gen. Mann said the process of repatriation of the rest 20,000 refugees would be “expedited”.
Bangladesh and Myanmar yesterday agreed to ease visa procedures for each other’s business people, and to increase sea shipments to boost trade between the two neighbor countries, an official said yesterday.
Both sides agreed in principal to give businesspeople longer visas and make it easier to process the travel documents, said Bangladeshi Commerce Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury.
“An accord in this regard is likely to come soon,” Chowdhury told reporters in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, after a meeting with his Myanmar counterpart, Brig. Gen. Tin Naing Thein. He did not specify any dates for the agreement.
Myanmar now issues three-day visas for Bangladeshi business people. Bangladesh offers those from Myanmar 15-day visas.
The meeting also resulted in an agreement to amend an existing shipping arrangement in a bid to make it easier and cheaper for ships to travel between the two countries, Chowdhury said.
The amendment “will reduce carrying time and cost as well,” Chowdhury said.
It wasn’t clear when the amendment to the shipping agreement will take effect.
Bangladesh imported goods worth $32.66 million from Myanmar in 2004-05, while its exports amounted to only $4.18 million.
Tin Naing Thein arrived Saturday on a three-day visit to Bangladesh as part of a 31-member delegation. The visit was aimed at improving relations between the two countries.
