Bangladesh and the Maldives will establish two mechanisms, each headed by foreign ministers and foreign secretaries, to boost cooperation on trade and business, reported The Daily Star. 

The development comes after the two-day visit of Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdullah Shahid to Bangladesh. The memorandums of understanding to enact these mechanisms are expected to be signed during next month’s visit of Maldivian President Abdullah Shahid to Bangladesh.

During the recent visit of Shahid, the two nations decided to form a joint commission for comprehensive cooperation led by their respective foreign ministers and an annual foreign office consultations mechanism headed by foreign secretaries.

The establishment of a direct shipping lane between the two nations was also agreed upon in the same visit. 

The Maldives exports goods worth $50 million to Bangladesh annually while imports around $6 million. Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen also expressed willingness to sign a preferential trade agreement, within the purview of WTO provisions. 

Issue of undocumented Bangladeshi workers and cooperation on tourism were also discussed.

Shahid also informed that the Maldives would continue the moratorium on recruitment of new unskilled laborers until the process of regularization of undocumented workers was completed.

However, the two nations have not yet reached on consensus to sign an MoU, creating a mechanism for the recruitment of migrant workers. The Bangladesh foreign minister informed that he would hold discussions with internal stakeholders on the issue.

Bangladesh also thanked the Maldives for its decision to vaccinate all expatriates free of cost.