Bhutanese Foreign Secretary Pema Lektup Dorji met State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam at her office at the Secretariat on Tuesday.

During the meeting, they discussed various issues of mutual interest.

The state minister welcomed Bhutan’s Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) initiative and underscored the need for the expeditious operationalisation of Bhutan’s Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Kurigram.

She expressed hope that the two special zones, once operational, would be symbiotic and complementary in promoting mutually beneficial economic engagement through trade, investment, employment generation and connectivity.

The state minister also recalled the vision of Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman for regional cooperation, under which he proposed the idea of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

The two sides emphasised the need to revitalise SAARC for greater regional integration and the collective benefit of the peoples of South Asia.

The Bhutanese foreign secretary is on a three-day visit to Dhaka to attend the fourth Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between Bangladesh and Bhutan, which was held earlier on Tuesday.