Biratnagar, Apr. 29: Ambassador of Bangladesh to Nepal Cyril Sikder has said that the Bangladeshis cherished and had great respects for the contributions made by their friendly country Nepal at the time of Bangladesh’s emergence.

Ambassador Sikder said this at a reception cum interaction held in his honour by the east regional university college of management here on Friday. Describing the present age as the age of higher education and science and technology, he said at such a juncture of time, both Nepal and Bangladesh should direct their efforts towards achieving economic progress and expanding their cooperation since most of the problems faced by the two countries are of the same nature.

On the occasion Ambassador Sikder handed over Rs 10 thousand for the university to Vice-Chancellor Dhurvanarayan Lal Das on his behalf and some books for the use of the university library. From the chair, Vice-Chancellor of the east regional University Dhurvanarayan Lal Das said that the great progress made by Bangladesh in the field of education within a short span of time was worthy of praise.

He expressed the confidence that the present visit of the Ambassador of Bangladesh would contribute towards establishing close contacts and building cooperation between the institutions of Higher Education in both the countries. Earlier, president of the SAARC Journalists’ Forum Narendra Upadhyaya, shedding light on the role of the forum, expressed the conviction that such visits by the officials of the two countries brought the people of the concerned countries closer.

Also Friday, the Bangladeshi Ambassador inspected the Annapurna Soap Industries Pvt. Ltd., The Narayan Vegetable and Vegetable Ghee and Ganesh Plastics Industries company in Sunsari and assessed the possibility of export to Bangladesh in the near future. On the occasion, industrialist Subodh Kumar Agrawal, who is associated with the three industries, talked about the quality of products manufactured by these industries, the need for creating a favourable climate for the export of Nepalese goods in Bangladesh and the need for three-way talks between Nepal, India and Bangladesh to overcome any obstacles in Nepal-Bangladesh trade and exports.

Similarly, Ambassador Sikder met office-bearers of the Borang business and Industries Association yesterday and exchanged views on the economic development of both Nepal and Bangladesh and the problems encountered by these countries in trade and commerce and transpiration.

Ambassador Sikder also attended a reception at local Mahendra Morang Campus the same day.