Laos is keen to import skilled manpower from Bangladesh for its booming construction industry, visiting Laos deputy foreign minister told the foreign adviser during a meeting in Dhaka yesterday. The Laos deputy foreign minister, Phongsavath Boupha, also said his country is ready to consider simplifying visa procedures to facilitate greater trade relations.

“Next year we will celebrate the twentieth anniversary of our diplomatic relations. Both sides have to celebrate it in a befitting manner,” Boupha told reporters after the meeting, referring to the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1988.

Boupha also told Bangladesh Foreign Adviser Iftekhar A Chowdhury that Laos will appoint an honorary consul general to Bangladesh.

Regarding the expansion of bilateral trade, Boupha reiterated his wishes to import Bangladeshi pharmaceuticals, cement, leather, steel and light engineering equipment.

Iftekhar told Boupha that Bangladesh could train young Lao diplomats and military officers in Bangladeshi institutions.