Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL) – Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud and Gambia’s Foreign Minister Dr Mamadou Tangara met on Friday on the sidelines of the OIC’s 15th Summit Pre-Preparatory Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Banjul, Gambia. The meeting highlighted the deepening ties between the two countries and focused on cooperation in various fields of the OIC during Gambia’s presidency.

The Gambia Foreign Minister expressed his gratitude to Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her solidarity with the Muslim Ummah by sheltering Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh. He also thanked the Bangladesh government for its financial assistance in the Rohingya genocide case.

Hasan Mahmud congratulated Dr Mamadou Tangara for chairing the OIC’s 15th Summit Pre-Preparatory Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and expressed his hope to work together to enhance cooperation in various fields of the OIC during Gambia’s presidency.

During the meeting, Hasan Mahmud expressed satisfaction with the existing friendly relations between the two countries and discussed the export of manpower from Bangladesh to the agricultural sector and the increase of bilateral cooperation in trade and investment.

Hasan Mahmud proposed the formation of a Joint Business Task Force, coordinated by the apex business organisations of the two countries, to expand trade cooperation between Bangladesh and Gambia. The Gambian Foreign Minister praised Bangladesh’s remarkable success in the agricultural sector and expressed his intention to expand trade cooperation between the two countries.

Both Foreign Ministers emphasized the OIC’s strong role in resolving the Palestinian issue. Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, Bangladesh’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the OIC, Dr Javed Patwary, were present at the meeting, among others.