BSS, Dhaka :
Bangladesh Ambassador to the USA Mohammad Ziauddin has said that within four decades of Bangladesh’s journey as a sovereign nation, the country has evolved into a role model for the developing world in many social and economic areas. The envoy said this while delivering a key-note speech at the “Bangladesh Embassy Night” jointly hosted by Bangladesh embassy in Washington and National Press Club (NPC) of the USA at Bangabandhu auditorium at the embassy on Wednesday. This is the second consecutive year, the Embassy has hosted such event in which more than 50 representatives from mainstream US media including Washington Post, BBC, AP, Voice of America (VOA) as well as members of National Press Club (NPC) attended the event.
Ziauddin in his speech highlighted various dimensions of US-Bangladesh bilateral relations and various socio-economic initiatives of present Bangladesh government, an embassy press release from Washington said. With particular reference to recently concluded US-Bangladesh Partnership Dialogue, Ambassador Ziauddin said that the relations between the two countries are set on a complimentary framework surrounding their national interests.
The two countries look forward to a deeper and stronger relation in the days ahead by recognizing areas of each other’s strength, he added. Acknowledging the concerns of various US stakeholders on the labor and safety standards in Bangladesh’s RMG factories, he offered a detailed account on the significant progress made by the government and the factory owners in this field since the tragic Rana plaza collapse. He also offered an analysis about various disconnects surrounding the decision of the US administration to suspend Bangladesh’s GSP facilities. He urged the journalists to help building a case in favour of Bangladesh’s duty and quota free access to the US market.
Later, in a question-answer session, the Bangladesh envoy gave answer to a number of questions that covered a wide range of issues surrounding US-Bangladesh bilateral relations including, Bangladesh-India relations, Bangladesh-China relations, climate change, countering terrorism and violent extremism, FDI in power and energy sector, women-empowerment, freedom of press, civil society and Grameen Bank.
Moderating the session, NPC President Mayron Belkind thanked Bangladesh Embassy for organizing such event describing it an important platform for sharing ideas and perspectives between the Embassy and the mainstream media in the USA.
