Dhaka: Switzerland has expressed its willingness to expand its business and trade in Bangladesh as a big market has already been created amid enhanced consumption capacity of the growing middle class here.

Swiss President Alain Berset came up with the during the talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday, said Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque at a press briefing at the Prime Minister’s Office in the city, reports the UNB.

‘Many Swiss companies are doing business in Bangladesh and they’re keen to expand their business here. The Swiss president also focused on it again and again as Bangladesh is a growing economy and the consumption capacity of the growing middle class will go up day by day,’ he said.

Since a big market has been created in Bangladesh, Switzerland wants to come here with their various products, the Foreign Secretary said.

Switzerland also expressed its willingness to boost the political relations with Bangladesh, he said, adding that it played a very strong role over the Rohingya issue politically at the UN as well as bilaterally.

Shahidul said the Swiss President expressed their keenness to work together with Bangladesh particularly on SDGs, climate change and migration issues.

Mentioning that there is a good coalition on migration and climate change between Bangladesh and Switzerland, Alain Berset put emphasis on expanding it to the areas of human mobility, climate change and human development.

The Foreign Secretary said the two sides agreed that an agreement would be signed between the two countries on SDGs. ‘This is for the first time that any developed country offered to develop a collaborative mechanism with Bangladesh in this regard.’

Alain Berset who took office in January last came to Bangladesh on Sunday on a four-day visit to see how Dhaka deals with the Rohingya crisis.

Bangladesh Ambassador to Switzerland and Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Shamim Ahsan and Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim were also present.