Dhaka, Broadcasting News Corporation : The new Ambassador of Brazil to Bangladesh Paulo Fernando Dias Feres called on the State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam monday at his office in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.State Minister Shahriar Alam welcomed the new Brazilian Ambassador to Bangladesh and congratulated him on the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Brazil. He also congratulated the newly elected President of Brazil Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva for his remarkable victory. The State Minister said that Bangladesh looks forward to working with the new administration to further strengthen its political and trade relations.
Referring to his recent visit to Brazil, the State Minister thanked the Brazilian government for concluding Visa Exemption Agreement for Diplomatic and Official Passports holders and MoU between Foreign Service Academy and Bangladesh and Rio Branco Institute of Brazil. He also mentioned that three business MoUs with the apex Chambers in Brazil were important stepstones towards a greater commercial cooperation between the two friendly countries. State Minister Shahriar Alam highlighted Bangladesh’s interest in importing sugar, wheat and soyabean oil from Brazil. They also discussed the possibility of investing in the fields of high breed cows, poultry and poultry feed, fisheries in Bangladesh. The State Minister also expressed hope that Brazil would facilitate Bangladesh’s initiative to have preferential trade agreements with the MERCOSUR countries.The Brazilian Ambassador said that during his tenure he would like to work on introducing Bangladesh better to the Brazilians, work intensely to strengthen people to people and business to business contacts and widen trade relations with Bangladesh. Ambassador Feres appreciated Bangladesh’s economic strides in the last one decade. The Ambassador expressed his country’s keen interest to work with Bangladesh closely on the issues of mutual benefits in the bilateral and multilateral fora. He sought the government’s cooperation during his tenure in Dhaka.