Dipu to hold talks with Kerry tonight

 Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni, now in Washington, will sit in a meeting tonight (Friday night) with US Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss various bilateral issues, including the much-debated GSP facility.

The upcoming US-Bangladesh Partnership Dialogue to be held in Dhaka on May 26 and Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (Ticfa) with the US will also come up for discussions in the meeting that will begin at 11:30pm (BDT), Foreign Ministry sources said.

Earlier, Commerce Minister GM Quader and US Ambassador in Dhaka Dan Mozena expressed the hope over Ticfa signing soon.

On May 11, GM Quader said Bangladesh is ready to sign Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (Ticfa) with the US, and hoped that it will be signed soon. “From the top level on both sides, we’ve agreed to sign the Ticfa with America soon.”

US Ambassador Den Mozena on May 14 expressed the hope that Bangladesh and America would soon be able to sign Ticfa.

On May 12, Dipu Moni left Dhaka for New York and from there she went to Washington after attending a high-level meeting of the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons held in New York on May 13-14.

Dipu and Kerry will be discussing ways to take the relationship to a higher flight and they will be talking about the Bangladesh-US Partnership Dialogue that will come up at the end of May (May 26), sources said.

Source: UNB Connect