BSS, Dhaka :Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith on Sunday underscored the necessity of strong coordination among the concerned countries addressing the real problem to have a successful South-South cooperation.”The real problem of South-South cooperation is off course coordination……I believe that the development partners can contribute richly in this regard. I think that is where we should look forward for further cooperation and effective management,”he said.The Minister made the remarks while inaugurating the National Consultation Workshop on Effective South-South Triangular Cooperation and Knowledge Sharing at NEC conference room in city’s Sher-e-Banglanagar as chief guest.Muhith said the South-South cooperation today is an accepted phenomenon as there is no hesitation from the development partners to this end.The Finance Minister said South-South cooperation has advanced a great deal in the planning process in working out plans for any particular sector while the multilateral banks have contributed quite substantially in triangular cooperation.Emphasizing the need for forging partnership, Muhith said it is now universally accepted that to achieve successes nationwide, there is a need to involve every parties including private sector and civil society.Political will for advancement of the development policy is very much needed as without it, none could move anywhere, he added.State Minister for Finance M A Mannan and UNDP country director Pauline Tamesis also spoke on the occasion as special guests with Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin in the chair.M A Mannan said Bangladesh’s cooperation with the neighboring souths and development partners in the north is vital, as it has been planning to become a mid-income country by 2021.”We believe in South-South cooperation for better synergies and we need to increase the effectiveness of both aid and trade in delivering the goals of development in the south,” he added.Citing the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s determination to become a developed country by 2041, the State Minister said gaining the target is possible if there is political stability and realistic foreign policy.The South-South and Triangular Cooperation and Knowledge Sharing is one of the five themes to be discussed in the upcoming high level meeting on global partnership to be held in Mexico in this April.In this context, the workshop was organized to diagnose the current practices of South-South and Triangular Cooperation and Knowledge Sharing in Bangladesh. It also aims to analyze how south-south cooperation can be done more effectively and how to increase its impact on development. At the same time, it also sought to identify good examples and practices which could be emulated.Recommendations coming from this workshop are expected to provide input for the aforementioned upcoming high level meeting in Mexico as well as for the foreign assistance policy of Bangladesh that is now under formulation.There were number of working sessions in the workshop dealing with the current state of South-South and Triangular Cooperation and Knowledge Sharing in Bangladesh, scope of trade as well as skills development and overseas employment opportunities for Bangladesh with its southern partner countries and also for analyzing the comparative Advantages of the Southern assistance comparing to northern ones.Ambassadors and representatives from various embassies and high commissions like India, China, Republic of Korea and Denmark, representatives from bilateral and multilateral agencies, business bodies and trade associations and government officials attended the workshop.
