Bangladesh and Turkmenistan have discussed issues of cooperation in energy and transport between the two countries, reports UNB. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam paid an official bilateral visit to Turkmenistan. During his visit, he met the First Vice-President of Turkmenistan Rasit Meredow and the Foreign Minister on March 9 and discussed the areas of cooperation, said the Foreign Ministry yesterday.

Bangladesh side congratulated Turkmenistan on the successful start of the construction of the Afghan section of the TAPI gas pipeline and noted that this important project had the immense geopolitical outcome for all concerned. In addition, during the talks, issues of cooperation in the fields of economy, investment, agriculture, chemical industry and science were also discussed.

State Minister described the state of affairs behind the independence and the leadership of the Father of the Nation and the current development activities under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

He mentioned that Bangladesh had already qualified to become a developing country graduating from the group of LDCs.

Both of them discussed the current state of relations between Turkmenistan and Bangladesh and expressed their desire for further strengthening the friendly relations.

The two sides noted the role of high-level visits, as well as the role of increased cooperation between the foreign ministries of the two countries.

Bilateral cooperation issues within the framework of international organisations, primarily the UN and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) were discussed as priority areas for interaction. Taking this opportunity, the State Minister Shahriar Alam invited the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan to participate in the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC member-countries, which will be held on May 5-6 this year in Dhaka.

State Minister hoped that both the parties would soon agree to a date for the VVIP visit of the Hon'ble President of Turkmenistan to Bangladesh.