He welcomed the US interest and involvement in the existing and new initiatives.

Adviser Rahman made the remarks at the first-ever high-level economic partnership consultation between Bangladesh and the United States held at a virtual platform with a view to developing a vision for advancing the existing US-Bangladesh Economic Partnership.

Salman F Rahman and US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach co-chaired the meeting.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, Bangladesh Ambassador to the USA, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister and senior officials from relevant ministries and departments of both the countries also attended the meeting.

During the meeting, both the co-chairs and the participants shared their thoughts on developing a vision to advance the bilateral economic partnership between the two friendly countries in all potential areas.

They emphasised the need for close cooperation between the governments and industries to address the evolving challenges related to health and economy during the current and post-Covid-19 global pandemic situation, said a media release.

Several important issues like investment, public health cooperation, sound digital policy, blue economy, agriculture capacity building, energy, transportation and infrastructure were discussed during this high-level consultations focusing on how to further enhance the overall economic partnership between Bangladesh and the United States.

Adviser Rahman thankfully mentioned that the US is Bangladesh’s single largest export destination country and also the largest investor in the country.

Under Secretary Krach appreciated Bangladesh government’s initiatives to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

The co-chairs expressed their optimism that the US companies would take advantage of the competitiveness of Bangladesh and invest in the country in a much greater volume, particularly in the areas of ICT, energy, and pharmaceuticals.

Both sides noted with great appreciation the excellent cooperation during the Covid-19 pandemic between the two countries and highlighted the supply of world-class PPE by Bangladesh to the United States in the shortest possible time.

An Air Transport Agreement between the governments of the United States of America and Bangladesh was signed during the consultation with a hope to continue positive engagement between the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB).

The co-chairs concluded the meeting by emphasising the importance of regular engagement between the two Governments at the political and bureaucratic levels.

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