Bangladesh PM seeks Argentina's help in developing football

Bangladesh is known for its football craze, with the nation largely divided in taking sides with two Latin American teams Argentina and Brazil

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday sought Argentina's cooperation in developing Bangladesh football as the Latin American country reopened its embassy in Dhaka 45 years after Buenos Aires closed it down, with officials calling the development a manifestation of Soccer diplomacy.

Ms. Hasina told visiting Argentinian Foreign Minister Andres Cafiero that Bangladeshis were big fans of Latin America’s football while Argentina's Lionel Messi was a household name in the South Asian country despite the two countries' locations on the opposite sides of the globe.

"Help develop our football,” a PMO spokesman quoted Ms. Hasina as saying when Mr. Cafiero paid a courtesy call to the premier at her official Ganabhaban residence.

Mr. Cafiero called on Ms. Hasina a day after the Argentine minister along with Bangladesh’s junior minister for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam opened his country’s embassy in Dhaka amidst the presence of a large crowd, mostly Argentine fans.

Ms. Hasina told Mr. Cafiero that Dhaka was very keen to strengthen communication and ties with Argentina and expected that the two nations could change the fate of their peoples by advancing their socio-economic conditions through enhanced cooperation.

She said Argentina could buy RMG products, high-quality pharmaceuticals, jute and jute goods, leather, and footwear items from Bangladesh while Buenos Aires could export animal and vegetable fats, oil and oil seeds, fruits, dairy products, and natural honey to the South Asian country.

Bangladesh is known for its football craze, with the nation largely divided in taking sides with two Latin American teams Argentina and Brazil, while opinion polls suggested the majority of Bangladeshis were Argentine supporters during the last World Cup Football.