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Mentioning that Bangladesh has made an amazing economic progress in recent years, Philippines Ambassador to Bangladesh Vicente Vivencio T Bandillo on Monday said his country is keen to boost bilateral trade with Bangladesh.
"I'm very closely working with both sides to increase the volume of bilateral trade," Vicente said while talking to reporters at the conference room of the Daily Sun in the city.
The envoy said he wants to take the bilateral relations between the two countries to new heights by deepening the ties on all fronts.
The Philippines envoy was paying a courtesy visit to the complex of East West Media Group Ltd in Bashundara residential area at the invitation of Daily Sun Editor Enamul Hoque Chowdhury, reports UNB.
Vicente said Bangladesh is an example and role model for the rest of the world in holistic development of any developing country.
He emphasised the need for direct flight between Bangladesh and the Philippines for increasing people-to-people contacts of both the countries.
Over the Rohingya crisis, he said his country stands by Bangladesh over the crisis in line with the efforts of the international community, including the United Nations.
Though the Philippines is geographically a bit far away from Bangladesh, it is always with Bangladesh to find a sustainable solution to the Rohingya crisis, he said.
The Ambassador said he is working with Bangladesh side to initiate education exchange programme between the two friendly nations.
Over recovering stolen money of the Bangladesh Bank from the Philippines, Vicente said his government is closely working and assisting the government of Bangladesh in this regard.
A portion of the money has already been returned to Bangladesh and their government is very cordially working to return the rest too, he added.
Not only Bangladesh, the diplomat said, the Philippines government has been cooperating with the international monetary system to recover the stolen money since the heist was committed in 2016.
In reply to a question, the envoy said he wants to show the real Philippines to Bangladeshis and real Bangladesh to Filipinos.
It will be greatly beneficial for both the countries to familiarise and popularise their tourist spots to each other, he mentioned.
During the visit, Vicente held talks with the Daily Sun Editor on different issues, including football, bilateral trade, investment and cultural exchanges.
Bangladesh Pratidin Editor and CEO of News 24, Radio Capital and Banglanews24.com Naem Nizam and Executive Director of News 24 Hasnain Khurshid accompanied the Daily Sun editor during the talks.
Later, the Philippines envoy also visited the offices of the News24 and the Radio Capital and went round different sections of them.
During the visit, the Ambassador was accompanied by Lauren S Arce, cultural and information officer of the Philippines Embassy in Dhaka.