BSS, Dhaka :
Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali Friday said Dhaka intends to strengthen its ties further with East Asian nations to accelerate its own development process as he joined the ASEAN’s flag raising ceremony to mark its 47th founding anniversary celebration here.
“Bangladesh is interested to strengthen further the existing relations with ASEAN countries to accelerate its ongoing development process and the benefit of the people of the country . . . we are working towards that end,” he told the function at the Indonesian embassy in Dhaka.
Ali said as part of the efforts for institutional engagement with Association of East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Bangladesh got itself enrolled in the ASEAN’s Regional Forum and is expecting to join it as a member after 2015 when a moratorium for induction of new members in the grouping of the East Asian nations would be over.
“As part of initiatives for enhanced engagement with ASEAN, Bangladesh ambassador to Indonesia has been entrusted with the task of the country’s permanent representative to ASEAN,” the minister said.
The flag raising ceremony came a day ahead of the two-day meeting of foreign ministers of ASEAN Regional Forum in Myanmar from tomorrow while Ali is set to leave here later today to join the event.
The ambassadors of Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia and The Philippines and envoys of ASEAN nations and senior officials of Bangladesh’s foreign ministry joined the ceremony.
