Online Desk:  A bilateral meeting was held between Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud and Gambia’s Foreign Minister Dr Mamadou Tangara on Friday on the sidelines of the OIC’s 15th Summit Pre-Preparatory Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Banjul, Gambia.

The Gambia Foreign Minister expressed his deep appreciation to Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her solidarity with the Muslim Ummah by sheltering Rohingya refugees displaced from Myanmar in Bangladesh. He also thanked the Bangladesh government for its financial assistance in the Rohingya genocide case, according to a media release on Saturday.

Hasan congratulated the Gambia Foreign Minister 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 courtesy call, Hasan expressed satisfaction at the existing friendly relations between the two countries and discussed with the Gambian minister the export of manpower from Bangladesh to the agricultural sector and the increase of bilateral cooperation in trade and investment.

Hasan 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.

In the meeting, the Foreign Ministers of both countries emphasised 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.