Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen expressed his hope that road connectivity would be established between Bangladesh and Bhutan to give a boost to bilateral trade between the two South Asian nations.

He made the remark when Bhutanese ambassador to Bangladesh Rinchen Kuentsyl made a call on him at state guest house Padma in the capital on Wednesday, a foreign ministry press release said on Thursday.

During the meeting, Momen laid emphasis on economic cooperation between the two neighbouring countries and said that Dhaka and Thimphu were likely to sign a Preferential Trade Agreement soon which would be first ever PTA for Bangladesh with any country.

The foreign minister suggested that Bangladeshi IT experts could support to Bhutanese development.

Momen expressed his gratitude to Bhutan for recognising independent and sovereign Bangladesh as the first ever country in 1971.

He also welcomed the imitative taking of a joint programme to celebrate the 50th years of anniversary of Bhutan’s recognition to Bangladesh’s independence.