Recognising the enduring and friendly bilateral ties between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam has emphasised the necessity of strengthening economic collaboration with Colombo to fully harness the existing opportunities.

Siam made the remarks when High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Bangladesh Dharmapala Weerakkody paid a courtesy call on him at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.

They underscored the importance of exploring new avenues of cooperation for the mutual benefit of the peoples of both countries, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a media release.

The high commissioner felicitated the Foreign Secretary on the assumption of his new responsibilities.

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka discussed various areas of bilateral cooperation including trade, ICT, education and tourism.

They also discussed how Bangladeshi pharmaceuticals could be exported to Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka could open up its institutions for Bangladeshi students.

The foreign secretary appreciated Sri Lanka’s proposal to convene the next round of Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) at the end of this year.