Political Relations

Bangladesh and Portugal have enjoyed excellent bilateral relations since establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Portugal recognized Bangladesh on 20 December 1974.  Since then, Bangladesh had maintained a non-resident diplomatic mission accredited to Portugal from London and later from Paris. Portugal maintained its non-resident diplomatic mission to Bangladesh from New Delhi. In addition to non-resident diplomatic missions, both the countries also assigned Honorary Consuls/Honorary Consuls General in the Capitals of each other.  The bilateral relations received a boost after opening of the first Bangladesh resident diplomatic mission in Lisbon on 11 July 2012 and appointment of the first resident Ambassador of Bangladesh to Portugal in the year 2013. In 2015, Foreign Ministries of the two countries adopted a mechanism for periodic political consultations between their senior officials and the first session of political consultations took place in Lisbon on 06 December 2018. The session identified several areas of cooperation such as leadership-level interactions, trade/investment, skill development/vocational training, ocean affairs/blue economy, renewable energy, tourism, ICT, people-to-people contact, etc. The ties of friendship were further strengthened after the Chancery and Ambassador’s Residence of Bangladesh Embassy shifted to the properties purchased by Bangladesh government in Lisbon in December 2020 and July 2020 respectively.

The bilateral relations between the two countries reached a new height with the first-ever Ministerial level bilateral visit of the Hon’ble State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh H.E. Mr. Md. Shariar Alam, MP to Portugal in May 2022. During the visit, Hon’ble State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh held important bilateral meetings with the Vice-President (Deputy Speaker) of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal Dr. Adão Silva; Minister of Economy and Sea Dr. António Costa Silva; and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Dr. Francisco André. He also received at Embassy several key personalities in the private sector of Portugal, namely, President of the Administração dos Portos do Douro, Leixões e Viana do Castelo, SA (APDL) and President of the Associação Empresarial da Região de Lisboa – AERLIS.

In the first bilateral meeting between the Foreign Ministers of the two countries, the Hon’ble Foreign Minister of Bangladesh held a bilateral meeting with his Portuguese counterpart Dr. João Gomes Cravinho during his visit to Portugal on 27 June-01 July 2022 to attend the 2nd UN Ocean Conference. Both Ministers discussed a gamut of different issues of mutual interests in the meeting.

The second round of political consultations was also held in Dhaka on 18 November 2022. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Dr. Francisco André led the Portuguese delegation to Dhaka for the 2nd Political Consultation. Dr. Francisco André’s visit to Bangladesh was the first-ever bilateral visit from Portugal to Bangladesh at any level (except those of non-resident Ambassador of Portugal).

The bond of friendship between the two countries has been further solidified with the formation of the first-ever Portugal-Bangladesh Parliamentary Friendship Group at Assembly of the Republic of Portugal in December 2022. Bangladesh Parliament also formed a similar Parliamentary Friendship Group for Portugal in January 2023.

Bangladesh and Portugal have so far signed six bilateral instruments for cooperation in different areas. A list of the signed instruments is furnished below:

The two countries are linked by a vibrant Bangladesh migrant community living in Portugal. The two countries also cooperate at the United Nations and various other multilateral bodies, including at ASEM. Portugal and Bangladesh share similar positions on many global issues such as climate change, migration, counter-terrorism and so on.