Dhaka, June 16 (Agency) Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen on Wednesday held a virtual discussion with the Heads of Missions from different ASEAN countries in Dhaka through the Bangladeshi App Boithok. This is for the first time that the foreign diplomats successfully used the virtual meeting app developed by the ICT Ministry of Bangladesh.
Foreign Secretary welcomed the ASEAN ambassadors to the meeting and said that Bangladesh highly values its relations with the South East Asian countries. He sought support from the ASEAN countries to Bangladesh’s application for becoming a Sectoral Dialogue Partner. The Foreign Secretary also shortly briefed on the Bangladesh’s COVID-19 management and the current scenario. The ASEAN ambassadors shared their respective country experiences with COVID-19. They informed that Bangladesh’s application to become ASEAN Sectoral Dialogue partner is under positive consideration at their capitals. They assured full support to Bangladesh’s bid.
Foreign Secretary reiterated that Bangladesh is keen to expand its ties with the ASEAN countries both in depth and dimension encompassing areas such as trade, investment, physical connectivity, people to people contacts, defense cooperation, academia and track-2 diplomacy. Secretary (East) Ambassador Mashfee Binte Shams, Secretary (West) Ambassador Shabbir Ahmad Chowdhury and Directors General of Myanmar and South East Asia Wings also attended the Boithok meeting.