Dhaka, March 11 (UNB) - Bangladesh and Qatar held bilateral talks here Thursday promising
to cooperate in different fields for mutual benefits of people of two friendly countries.

Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni led the home side at the talks with the visiting Minister of State of Qatar for International Cooperation and Minister in Charge of Trade and Business Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah at State Guest House Meghna.

During the discussion, an understanding was reached on possible Qatari assistance on the following projects.

Dredging of the major river navigational routes, building multipurpose cyclone and flood shelters in Bangladesh, establishing nursing training centers and community clinics, supply of 300,000 metric tones of Urea fertilizer in 2011 on a state-to-state basis, acceptance of Bangladeshi skilled and semi-skilled workers in Qatar in larger numbers.

Qatar also showed interest to collaborate for development of the tourism sector in Bangladesh, including building of five star hotels and conference facilities.

Both the countries agreed to cooperate in the areas of anti-money laundering (AML), financial intelligence unit (FIU) and banking supervision.

The Qatari side indicated that the proposals from Bangladesh side on importing LNG and setting up of LPG plants on a joint venture would be considered.

In response to Qatari request, Bangladesh agreed to follow an ‘open sky policy’ for determining flight operations between the two countries.

Both Bangladesh and Qatar agreed to exchange plots in each other’s capital at a token price for their respective embassy complexes.

The Qatari Minister is expected to visit a dredging site in Mawa tomorrow (Friday).