{"id":4316,"date":"2026-10-13T16:35:01","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T16:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/?p=4316"},"modified":"2026-10-13T16:35:01","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T16:35:01","slug":"pm-welcomes-dutch-interest-in-teesta-project-feasibility-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/?p=4316","title":{"rendered":"PM welcomes Dutch interest in Teesta project feasibility study"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Prime Minister Tarique Rahman today welcomed the Netherlands government&#8217;s interest in conducting a feasibility study for the Teesta project and providing expertise and technical assistance for its implementation.<\/p>\n<p>He welcomed the interest during a meeting with a delegation led by Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Sjoerd Sjoerdsma at the Prime Minister&#8217;s Office at the Secretariat here, said PM&#8217;s Deputy Press Secretary Shahadat Shadhin.<\/p>\n<p>The meeting discussed strengthening bilateral trade ties, a possible free trade agreement with the European Union (EU), water resources management, renewable energy, agricultural cooperation, human rights and the Rohingya crisis.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4318\" src=\"https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791894389871_6ace2375d4c58_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"956\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791894389871_6ace2375d4c58_1.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791894389871_6ace2375d4c58_1-300x179.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791894389871_6ace2375d4c58_1-1024x612.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791894389871_6ace2375d4c58_1-768x459.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791894389871_6ace2375d4c58_1-1536x918.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791894389871_6ace2375d4c58_1-1170x699.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791894389871_6ace2375d4c58_1-585x350.jpg 585w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/>During the meeting, Tarique Rahman said Bangladesh and the Netherlands, both delta nations, had ample scope to work together by addressing common challenges and exchanging experiences.<\/p>\n<p>He expressed particular interest in the Netherlands&#8217; experience in land reclamation.<\/p>\n<p>Sjoerdsma stressed expanding knowledge exchange, sharing experiences and strengthening cooperation between the two countries in water resources management, land reclamation, char development and climate-resilient river management.<\/p>\n<p>The Dutch minister said it was an ideal time to further strengthen bilateral relations through expanded investment and cooperation, particularly in water resources management, trans-boundary river management, democracy and economic development.<\/p>\n<p>The meeting also discussed free trade and Bangladesh&#8217;s trade relations with the EU.<\/p>\n<p>Sjoerdsma expressed interest in free trade, while Bangladesh sought the Netherlands&#8217; cooperation in exploring the possibility of a free trade agreement with the EU.<\/p>\n<p>The Dutch minister also enquired about the government&#8217;s initiatives to address Bangladesh&#8217;s ongoing energy crisis and praised the country&#8217;s plans for renewable energy.<\/p>\n<p>On the Rohingya crisis, Bangladesh reiterated that its root cause lay in Myanmar and that a sustainable solution must also be found there. Bangladesh wants to ensure the safe, voluntary and dignified repatriation of the Rohingyas.<\/p>\n<p>The meeting underscored the importance of strengthening diplomatic efforts at bilateral and multilateral levels to resolve the crisis.<\/p>\n<p>The Netherlands also expressed interest in extending cooperation with Bangladesh in agriculture, drawing on its experience and technological expertise in the sector.<\/p>\n<p>Discussions also covered the consolidation of democracy and the protection of human rights in Bangladesh.<\/p>\n<p>The Prime Minister said BNP, as a political party, had itself been a victim of human rights violations in the past, and that his government is committed to protecting and strengthening human rights in the country in light of that experience.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the meeting, Sjoerdsma invited the Prime Minister to visit the Netherlands.<\/p>\n<p>Commerce Minister Khandaker Khandakar Abdul Muktadir, Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir, Prime Minister&#8217;s Adviser on Education, Expatriates&#8217; Welfare and Overseas Employment Mahdi Amin, Dutch Ambassador to Bangladesh Joris van Bommel and relevant officials were present at the meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prime Minister Tarique Rahman today welcomed the Netherlands government&#8217;s interest in conducting&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[174,824,322],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bangladesh","category-foreign-affairs","category-pm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4316"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4319,"href":"https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4316\/revisions\/4319"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dhakastatement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}