Bangladesh sought investment from Thailand in healthcare and nursing education on Wednesday at the 5th meeting of the Bangladesh-Thailand Joint Trade Committee held in Bangkok.
In the meeting, the Bangladesh delegation proposed that ‘top quality’ Thai hospitals could be built in Bangladesh on joint venture initiatives.
The meeting decided that an exploratory mission of Thai Medical Association would soon visit Bangladesh to hold consultations with Bangladeshi investors and examine the scope of investment in the medicare sector.
The two sides agreed to work closely on agro processing, fisheries, pharmaceuticals and industry sectors. Bangladesh sought Thailand’s technical cooperation in the area of agriculture and health services.
Bangladesh also sought duty free quota free market access for some products. Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi led the 11-member Bangladesh delegation in the two-day meeting which ‘comprehensively’ discussed bilateral trade and investment issues. His counterpart Jurin Laksananawsit led the Thai side, the foreign ministry said.
In the meeting, the commerce minister handed over to his Thai counterpart a list of 36 products at six digit level seeking duty free quota free market access.
He said this can help Bangladesh reduce existing trade gap with Thailand. The Thailand Minister assured to take up Bangladesh’s request with the relevant authorities.
Bangladesh also requested Thailand to ease visa in business category. To promote bilateral trade, the two sides decided to participate regularly in each country’s trade fairs, investment seminars.
The Thai side agreed to send a delegation to Bangladesh to visit Special Economic Zones in Bangladesh and explore the scope of investing in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh ambassador to Thailand Md. Nazmul Quaunine also attended the meeting among other officials from ministries concerned.
It was decided that the next meeting of JTC would be held in Dhaka at a mutually convenient time. Additional Secretary of the Commerce Ministry Md. Obaidul Azam led the Senior Officials meeting prior to the ministerial session.