Bangladesh foreign minister Hasan Mahmud has said that Dhaka would like to see an increase in Russian investments in the country in a bid to expand the economic relationship between the two nations, a statement from Bangladesh’s foreign affairs’ ministry said on Wednesday.
During a meeting with Russian Ambassador to Dhaka Alexander Mantytskiy, Mahmud also asked the envoy to facilitate an early visit by a Bangladesh trade delegation to Russia.
The foreign ministry said that both of them underscored the importance of increasing the trade volumes between Dhaka and Moscow as well as diversification of products.
“The Ambassador expressed readiness to continue supplying wheat and fertilizers and increase the volume, if necessary,” the foreign ministry statement noted.
Mahmud and Mantytskiy also emphasised the need to conclude negotiations in several areas to deepen the bilateral cooperation, the statement said.
Bangladesh’s ruling Awami League, which came to power for the fourth consecutive term in the federal vote this month, has vowed to build a “strong friendship” with Moscow to expand the South Asian nation’s energy sector during the current term.
Russia is building the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Bangladesh’s first civil nuclear power project which is being developed with Russian technical help and a $11.3 billion concessional loan from Moscow.
According to the Russian foreign ministry, bilateral trade hit a record volume of nearly $3 billion in 2021, with the energy sector identified as a critical area of cooperation.