Canadian High Commissioner in Dhaka Benoît- Pierre Laramee on Wednesday said the ongoing political violence is ‘inflicting a terrible cost’ on the people and country and it must be stopped. “There must be an end to violence, and there must be space for peaceful political activity,” he said.The diplomat made the remark when he met State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam at the latter’s office.During the meeting, the State Minister for Foreign Affairs and the High Commissioner spoke about the Canada-Bangladesh relationship, established over 40 years ago.The High Commissioner said Canada will work in partnership with the people and government of Bangladesh to secure prosperity for the two nations, as Bangladesh moves towards middle-income status.Laramee said economic and social developments are built on the foundations of good governance, peace, and democracy.He remarked that there are many opportunities for Canada and Bangladesh to work towards mutual prosperity.”Canada continues its strong development partnership with Bangladesh,” Laramee said adding that Canadian development investments in the health, education, and sustainable economic growth sectors are helping build the foundation for future prosperity in Bangladesh.They observed that trade relationship is growing, and has expanded to over $1.9 billion (CAD).The majority of this is Bangladeshi exports to Canada, supported by Bangladesh’s access to tariff free exports to Canada under Canada’s Least Developed Country tariff programme.
