Staff Correspondent:

Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud has invited Swiss investment in IT and agro-processing sectors and urged Switzerland to follow the European Union (EU) in extending its Duty-Free Quota-Free (DFQF) trade preferences till 2029.

He also mentioned the protracted Rohingya crisis and sought Swiss assistance and support in expediting their safe, dignified and swift repatriation to Myanmar. 

Ambassador of Switzerland to Bangladesh Reto Renggli met the foreign minister at his office on Monday and 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 its 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 as well as their negative impacts on the economies of the two countries. Renggli congratulated Hasan on his appointment as foreign minister.

The foreign minister described 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 Bangladesh prime minister’s visit to Switzerland in 2023, the ambassador termed Bangladesh-Switzerland ties 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. Switzerland is a steady partner of Bangladesh in promoting key values: good business practices, multilateral cooperation and a vibrant civil society.