Bangladesh has sought Indonesia’s support for its aspirations to become a Sectoral Dialogue Partner of ASEAN and to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and has expressed readiness to elevate bilateral trade relations toward a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir made the requests during a courtesy call by Indonesian Ambassador to Bangladesh Listyowati at his office in Dhaka on Wednesday.

The two sides discussed trade and business, investment in the energy sector, disaster management, education and training, capacity building, tourism, cultural exchange, people-to-people contacts, consular affairs, the exchange of high-level visits and cooperation on regional and global issues.

Kobir urged Indonesia to increase imports of Bangladeshi products and services to further deepen and diversify bilateral trade.

He also asked Indonesia to ease visa processing for Bangladeshi nationals to promote tourism, cultural exchanges and greater people-to-people connectivity.

Listyowati reaffirmed her support for diversifying Bangladesh’s exports to Indonesia, including pharmaceuticals.

Citing both countries’ vulnerability to natural disasters, Kobir expressed interest in strengthening bilateral cooperation on disaster management.

Listyowati supported the proposal and emphasised the importance of exchanging knowledge, sharing best practices and enhancing capacity-building initiatives to mitigate the adverse impacts of natural disasters.

Kobir sought Indonesia’s support for Bangladesh’s aspirations to become a Sectoral Dialogue Partner of ASEAN and to join RCEP. Listyowati reaffirmed Indonesia’s continued support for those initiatives.

The meeting concluded with both sides reaffirming their commitment to work closely together at the bilateral, regional and international levels on issues of mutual interest.