Ambassador of Switzerland to Bangladesh H.E. Mr. RetoSiegfried Renggli congratulated the Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud on his appointment as the Foreign Minister, during a courtesy call today at the latter’s office.
The Foreign Minister termed the relations between the two nations as historic and strong. The Swiss Ambassador lauded the spectacular socio-economic development of Bangladesh over the last decade. Mentioning the Swiss President’s visit to Bangladesh in 2018 and the Prime Minister’s visit to Switzerland in 2023, the Ambassador termed Bangladesh-Switzerland ties as ‘solid’. He expressed hope for signing a bilateral Air Services Agreement in March and holding the next Foreign Office Consultations in April to advance bilateral relations further.
The Foreign Minister invited Swiss investment in our IT and agro-processing sectors and urged Switzerland to follow the suit of EU in extending DFQF trade preferences till 2029. He also stressed the protracted Rohingya crisis and sought Swiss assistance and support in expediting the Rohingyas’ safe, dignified, and swift repatriation to Myanmar.
The Swiss Ambassador praised Bangladesh’s impressive value chain development journey from the 70s to this day and flagged the scope of supply chain development where the Swiss side could chip in through their food processing machinery industry. The Ambassador reassured continued Swiss humanitarian support to the Rohingyas, recognizing the recent border security issues as well.
The Foreign Minister and the Swiss Ambassador shared their views on wars and conflicts in different parts of the world, including in Ukraine, Gaza, and the Red Sea, and their resultant negative impacts on the economies of the two countries.