The joint commission and the direct air service will pave the way for greater cooperation in varied potential sectors including trade, investment, agriculture and tourism.

"So far we have had relationship without much substance. Now we are giving thrust on how to make it into a pragmatic and purposeful one," Foreign Affairs Adviser Reaz Rahman told reporters yesterday on the outcome of the prime minister's visit to Vietnam.

Terming the three-day visit significant on both political and economic turfs, he said the talks of the two prime ministers focussed on cooperation in trade and investment, agriculture, science and technology, cultural fields and on annual bilateral consultation.

Reaz said the two sides agreed to consider preferential treatment to items imported from the respective countries and sign an agreement on direct payment between the central banks of the two countries.

They identified specific areas for promotion of trade that would include pharmaceuticals, garment accessories, jute, leather, cement, agricultural equipment and wooden furniture.

The adviser said the two sides also agreed to cooperate in the flood management since both Bangla-desh and Vietnam are delta countries and flood-prone.

Responding to a question, Reaz Rahman stressed the need for dialogue and understanding among the major political parties to create an investment-friendly climate in Bangladesh.

Foreign Secretary Hemaye-tuddin said the first meeting of the joint commission at the foreign secretary level will be held soon on economic, cultural, and science and technology, ICT etc to work out a roadmap for bilateral cooperation in all these fields.

The Vietnamese foreign secretary will come to Dhaka to attend the first meeting of the joint commission.

Hemayet said State Minister for Agriculture Mirza Fakhrul Islam and the Vietnamese agriculture minister agreed to work out a two-year work plan for cooperation in the agriculture sector.

A team of agriculture experts from Vietnam will come to Dhaka shortly to identify the areas of cooperation, particularly in high-breed rice production.

On direct air service, an agreement of which was signed in 1992, he said the two sides agreed to introduce direct flights between Dhaka and Hanoi to promote trade and tourism.

Chairman of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association Abdul Awal who led a business delegation during the visit said the private sectors of the two countries signed three agreements on textiles, SME and woven sectors.

He said both the private sectors have shown interests in joint ventures in medicine, jute, leather and ICT.

The volume of two-way trade could be raised to $100 million from the present level of $20 million through direct trading, Awal said, adding that investment climate in Bangladesh is better than before.