This is a potential value addition to the Look East policy direction Bangladesh has been taking lately having already encompassed Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand in a chain of bridge-building efforts for substantial sub-regional and inter regional tie-ups. And, now we have Hanoi within the frame.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's visit to Vietnam, the first-ever by any head of government from Bangladesh following the maiden trip of Vietnamese President Tran Due Luong to Dhaka last year has marked the high-point in the renewal of bilateral interest to provide greater depth and dimension to their relationship. The official talks between Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and her Vietnamese counterpart Phan Van Khai have yielded a common resolve to expand the areas of bilateral cooperation. The thrust areas for multi-sectoral cooperation include trade, commerce, agriculture and investment.

The signing of a bilateral accord on promotion and protection of investment and that of memoranda of understanding (MOUs) between Vietnam Garments and Textiles Association and Bangladesh Textiles Mills Association and also between the Hanoi Union of cooperatives and Bangladesh business bodies represent a stride taken in terms of serving mutual interests within a framework.

What deserves special mention is the agreement in principle to form a joint commission whose job it will be to take follow-up actions on the decisions made and accords signed during our PM's visit to Hanoi.

The new areas identified for exploration of potential for further collaboration are education, science and technology, disaster management and service sectors. Given the importance of the new grounds aimed to be broken, we urge that the exploratory phase should not be a long-drawn-out process so as to see the interest dissipate on both sides.

Indeed, the two countries can benefit immensely from people-to-people relations in a context where they have historical familiarities and emotions to share.