Bhutan to recruit medical specialists from Bangladesh

Bhutan has shown strong interest in recruiting medical specialists from Bangladesh for its government hospitals.

Prime Minister of Bhutan Lotay Tshering made a request in this regard to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during his three-day visit to Bangladesh from April 12-15. He said his country had a shortage of medical specialists and sought her help.

Recognising Bhutan's needs, Hasina agreed to facilitate the recruitment of medical specialists from Bangladesh, according to a 28-point joint statement issued in Dhaka yesterday regarding the state visit of Bhutan's PM.

Tshering also invited Hasina to visit Bhutan before he returned there yesterday.

The Bhutanese PM thanked the Bangladesh government for providing Bhutanese students with opportunities to pursue higher education here, especially in the field of medicine.

He stated that Bangladesh has made significant contributions to Bhutan's achievements in the health sector by providing slots to Bhutanese students in government medical and dental colleges.

Hasina assured Bangladesh's continuous support to further enhance cooperation with Bhutan.

She also announced five additional scholarships for Bhutanese students in government medical colleges in Bangladesh, taking the total number of reserved seats for Bhutanese medical students to 15.

Tshering also expressed gratitude to Hasina, her government and the people of Bangladesh for generously donating essential medicines to the Bhutan Health Trust Fund. 

Both the prime ministers noted the expanding bilateral trade and acknowledged its importance in further cementing the friendship between the two countries and agreed to allow duty free access to an additional 16 items proposed by Bhutan and 10 items proposed by Bangladesh.

They also welcomed the ongoing discussions among Bangladesh, Bhutan and India on the proposed trilateral cooperation for hydroelectric power and noted that a meeting of the power secretaries concerned could be held in this regard.

Hasina and Tshering underscored that collaboration in this sector could further strengthen regional cooperation, encourage use of renewable energy, and mitigate climate-change challenges.

The two prime ministers recalled with satisfaction the great strides that Bangladesh and Bhutan have made in terms of socio-economic development as the two countries were set to be elevated from the status of Least Developed Countries (LDC) in the upcoming years, read the joint statement.