Diplomatic Desk:
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed met with Norwegian Ambassador to Bangladesh Håkon Arald Gulbransen in his office at the Ministry of Home Affairs at the Bangladesh Secretariat on Tuesday (June 2, 2026).
The meeting, held in a very cordial atmosphere, brought together fruitful discussions on various issues of mutual interest between the two countries, bilateral trade, investment cooperation in various sectors including renewable energy, combating climate change, and the Rohingya crisis.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Minister expressed deep gratitude for Norway’s initial recognition of Bangladesh as an independent state in 1972 and its continuous support for Bangladesh’s socio-economic development. He said that the current government’s foreign policy is giving top priority to national interests, sovereignty and security, the main foundation of which is the establishment of democratic values, human rights and the rule of law.
During the meeting, the Ambassador highly appreciated the recent socio-economic progress of Bangladesh and said that Norway is now shifting away from traditional development cooperation and focusing on increasing bilateral trade and investment. The Minister welcomed Norway’s decision and emphasized the diversification of Bangladesh’s exports to Norway. He highlighted the huge potential of Bangladesh’s exports of high-value products such as pharmaceuticals, leather products, IT services, jute products and handicrafts to the Norwegian market. At the same time, he called on Norwegian entrepreneurs to make large-scale investments in Bangladesh’s renewable energy, information and communication technology (ICT), shipbuilding and packaging industries.
Praising Norway’s international leadership in addressing the global challenge of climate change, the Minister said that Bangladesh is one of the major countries at risk of climate change. He emphasized the need to further enhance bilateral cooperation in renewable energy and environmentally friendly and low-carbon technology projects in Bangladesh through the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Norfund’s Climate Investment Fund. He also called for increased institutional exchanges in the fields of education, technical cooperation, digital innovation, vocational training and research between the two countries and requested for further expansion of the scope of Norwegian scholarships for Bangladeshi students.
The meeting appreciated the excellent role of the Bangladeshi diaspora living in Norway, which is further strengthening the cultural and economic ties between the two countries. Regarding the Rohingya crisis, the Home Minister thanked Norway for its continuous humanitarian assistance to the forcibly displaced Myanmar citizens (Rohingya) who have taken refuge in Cox’s Bazar and for the active work of the Norwegian Refugee Council. However, he stressed that the long-term presence of this large population poses a major challenge to Bangladesh’s security and economy. He requested Norway and the international community to play a stronger role in ensuring the safe, dignified and sustainable repatriation of Rohingya citizens to their home country, Myanmar.
The Norwegian Ambassador, mentioning the common values between Bangladesh and Norway, assured that the solidarity and cooperation of the two countries on issues of mutual interest in various international forums including the United Nations will continue in the future and that Norway will always stand by Bangladesh for its overall development and security.
During the meeting, Political Advisor of the Norwegian Embassy Sarwar Jahan Chowdhury, Additional Secretary of the Political Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed, Joint Secretary of the Political-1 Branch Rebecca Khan and Deputy Secretary of the Political-3 Branch Md. Aminul Islam were present.
