DHAKA, 30 August 2021, (TON): Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen went on a 10-day visit to Europe aiming to boost cooperation on climate change and migrants.

He will hold the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Asia-Pacific Regional Review meeting and in preparation to the LDC conference to be held in Doha in January next year.

Foreign ministry official said “Bangladesh, as co-chair of LDC, has been negotiating at multilateral forums for various privileges.”

An official concerned said "There are also countries, including Bangladesh, that are graduating LDCs. We are negotiating for continuing the privileges of LDC for 12 years after graduation in 2026. This could be an important topic in the meeting."

He will hold meetings with the director generals of six multilateral bodies, World Health Organization, UN Refugee Agency, UN Human Rights Council, International Organization for Migration and International Labour Organization, foreign ministry officials told this correspondent.

The minister is also likely to hold a bilateral meeting with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, officials said.

Following the visit to Switzerland, Foreign Minister Momen will be visiting UK where he will hold bilateral meeting with his UK counterpart Dominic Raab.

He will also meet COP26 President Alok Sharma to discuss climate change ahead of the COP26 to be held between November 1 and 12 in Glasgow under the presidency of UK.

Another foreign ministry official said "climate change is a very important issue for Bangladesh. The issues will be discussed on how Bangladesh can get funding for climate change adaptation, renewable energy, compensation for the damage by climate change."

Following the visit to UK, Momen will fly to The Netherlands to attend the governing body meeting of Global Center on Adaptation (GCA). Bangladesh, as a host of the GCA regional centre, is attending the meeting before the COP26.