Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Philippines in Bangladesh Nina P Cainglet on Sunday at a lecture in the city said that the two countries had the potential for greater cooperation in various sectors, including energy, agriculture and education.
鈥楤angladesh and the Philippines have the potential for greater collaboration in sectors such as energy, agriculture and education,鈥� ambassador Nina said at the country lecture titled 鈥楤eyond Bilateral Ties: Unlocking New Avenues in Bangladesh-Philippines Cooperation鈥� organised by the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies at its auditorium.
In her keynote speech, she said that enhanced bilateral engagement would contribute to regional peace, prosperity, and sustainable growth.
Responding to a call for the Philippines鈥檚 support in resolving the Rohingya crisis, she said that being a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, they would be present during the high-level conference on the Rohingya situation in New York on September 30 during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly.
The lecture was followed by an open discussion session, where participants鈥攊ncluding senior government officials, diplomats, academics, media representatives, researchers, and students鈥攕hared their insights and suggestions on deepening Bangladesh-Philippines relations.
The Philippines envoy said that they would look into whether they could liberalise the visa policy, as several participants underlined the need for enhancing people-to-people relations between the two countries for more cooperation in different areas.
The envoy said that they would go for more exchange programmes among students of universities in the two countries.
Highlighting the historical relations between Bangladesh and the Philippines, Dhaka University鈥檚 international relations Professor Delwar Hossain stressed the need for exploring new dimensions of cooperation, including trade, investment, people-to-people linkages, and maritime collaboration.
He underscored the importance of strengthening diplomatic and economic ties in the changing geopolitical context of the Indo-Pacific region.
BIISS director general Major General Iftekhar Anis delivered the welcome address at the event moderated by former acting foreign secretary Md Ruhul Alam Siddique.
