MM Rahmatullah:

Ireland’s Enterprise, Trade and Employment Minister Simon Coveney, who is visiting Bangladesh, met with Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday afternoon. Ireland’s Ambassador to India Kevin Kelly, who is in charge of Bangladesh, was present on the occasion.
Foreign Minister Hasan thanked the Minister of Ireland for the inauguration of the Honorary Consulate in Dhaka on Monday and requested to increase the employment of Bangladeshis in Ireland, especially by introducing the submission of student visa applications to the Honorary Consulate in Dhaka. He also sought Ireland’s support to continue the Everything But Arms (EBA) and ‘GSP Plus’ benefits of the European Union even after Bangladesh has been promoted to a middle-income country.
Ireland’s Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney, said that he views the visit as his country’s first full ministerial visit to Bangladesh with great importance, and expressed consensus that more manpower and students from this country would go to Ireland. Minister Kovni also responded positively to the foreign minister’s call for increased investment and diversification.
Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud welcomed the United Nations goodwill ambassador visiting Bangladesh at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Monday morning and in the afternoon attended the meeting of Princess Victoria of Sweden with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Pan Pacific Hotel Sonargaon in the capital. Sweden’s Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Johan Forsell, who is traveling with the Princess, attended the meeting.