Brazil, the five times winner of the FIFA World Cup, has offered to train Bangladeshi football coaches in Brazil to help improve the standard of Bangladesh football.
“We’re very glad to offer training for your (BD) coaches in Brazil,” said Brazilian Ambassador in Dhaka Wanja Campos Nobrega which she thinks could be a very interesting aspect of cooperation between Bangladesh and Brazil.
The offer came at a country lecture programme titled ‘Brazilian Foreign Policy and Brazil-Bangladesh Relations’ held in the city.
Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) arranged the event with Chairman of BIISS Board of Governors Ambassador Munshi Faiz Ahmad in the chair. BIISS Director General Maj Gen SM Shafiuddin Ahmed also spoke on the occasion.
Brazil, being the most successful football team in the history of the FIFA World Cup was thrashed by Germany in the just-concluded World Cup semifinal.
“We lost but it doesn’t matter…someone has to lose and someone has to win,” she said expressing her satisfaction over huge support from the Bangladeshis during the World Cup.
The diplomat mentioned that about 300 Bangladeshis went to Brazil to watch the matches. “It was a great accomplishment for us, so much enthusiasm in Bangladesh, and thank you very much for this atmosphere.”
Nobrega spoke about Brazil’s foreign policy in the contemporary world and highlighted various aspects of Brazil-Bangladesh relationship.
She emphasised the need for working together to take the bilateral relations between the two countries to a new height and explore new avenues of cooperation in the coming days.
Brazil recognised Bangladesh in the first year of the country’s independence and extended its diplomatic support to the newly independent country.
Faiz Ahmad said Bangladesh and Brazil have maintained good and friendly relations from the very beginning.
Both countries are keen to refocus on their diplomatic engagement and seriously considering conclusion of some agreements for cooperation in various areas, including technical cooperation, agricultural cooperation, visa exemption, and cooperation in culture, education, HRD, and defense, he added.
The BIISS Chairman said cooperation between Brazil and Bangladesh could be enhanced in a wide range of sectors, including transport, civil engineering, climate change, food security, counterterrorism and sustainable development.
Shafiuddin Ahmed said there are many convergences of interests between Brazil and Bangladesh in the global issues, including climate change and trade negotiations.
He hoped that Bangladesh and Brazil will explore every opportunity to work together to guarantee potential enhancement of these close relations for the sake of progress and prosperity of their people.
Senior civil and military officials, including former ambassadors, members of the academia, businessmen, representatives of think tanks, scholars, and policy makers participated in the open discussion session and raised their valuable opinions, suggestions and questions on Brazil-Bangladesh relations.
