Staff Reporter :The United Kingdom would continue to work with the government, political parties, democratic institutions and other stakeholders to help ‘flourish democracy’ in Bangladesh,’ newly appointed British High Commissioner in Dhaka Alison Blake told journalists on Wednesday.Blake, the first female High Commissioner from UK to Bangladesh, said this while addressing a press conference her first in Dhaka at British High Commission Amenities Centre (BHC Club), Dutabash Road, Baridhara. She said democracy with strong civil society is the key to building a prosperous and stable society.We believe democracy with a flourishing civil society operating under the rule of law is the best way to build a prosperous and stable society, Alison Blake said. She added her country United Kingdom is ready to support the government and people of Bangladesh to develop institutions befitting a middle income country and to ensure that in the pursuit of economic growth and development no one is left behind.In the coming days I will work with Bangladesh and its people taking the shared agenda forward. A democracy with strong civil society “is the key to building a prosperous and stable society, she said. The British High Commissioner said the new Global Goals also include, for the first time, commitments to Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. The UK has provided support to Bangladesh over many years to modernise its institutions, Alison Blake said. She said as the two ‘United Kingdom and Bangladesh’ are commonwealth countries, they share a set of core values including a commitment to parliamentary democracy and a tolerant and pluralistic system with a commitment to protect and uphold human rights.She said they have the largest Bangladeshi diaspora in Europe, and the nearly 500,000 British Bangladeshis have made an immense positive contribution to every aspect of British life, from Parliament to business, food, arts and culture. The UK is Bangladesh’s third biggest export market and many thousands of Bangladeshis visit or work or study in the UK each year, she said. Alison Blake said she has been in Bangladesh for one week, and touched by the warmth of the welcome she has received from everyone she has met.My appointment is not a break with the past but an opportunity to build on the work of my many respected predecessor High Commissioners to further strengthen and deepen the long and friendly relationship between the UK and Bangladesh and to build a bright future for both our countries, she said.The UK is a somewhat older state and you have growth rates that we certainly don’t match. But the UK and Bangladesh share the broadest range of interests, including education, development, bilateral trade and prosperity and security, including action on the threats that harm us all, she added.The UK is the largest cumulative investor in Bangladesh with over £1.3bn of investment in the country, the British High Commissioner said. She said over 100 British companies operate in Bangladesh, including at least one that has been here for over 100 years. These companies span the fields of banking, consumer products, energy, consultancy, textiles, education, architecture and much more, she added. Alison Blake said they are also some of the largest contributors to the Bangladeshi Exchequer and have industry-leading social responsibility programmes. She said the UK believes that a stable, prosperous and secure Bangladesh is in the UK’s interest as well as that of Bangladesh. “We are committed to supporting Bangladesh in its aspirations to build a brighter future for all its people,” Alison Blake said. She said the UK and the Government of Bangladesh also work together to tackle shared problems, ones that neither of us can solve on our own, including security problems and particularly extremism and terrorism and the threat posed by climate change, a threat to all of us but very acutely to Bangladesh which is already vulnerable to natural disasters, such as cyclones, floods, river bank erosion, earthquakes.She said in an increasingly unpredictable and unstable world, Bangladesh deserves the credit it has rightly been given for its role internationally in the UN, not least helping to shape the new Global Goals, at the UN Human Rights Council and as the largest personnel contributor to UN peacekeeping operations.She said they are also supporting Bangladesh put in the place the foundations for continued economic growth and job creation. She added the UK supports Bangladesh’s continuing development and sustainable future growth, building on a strong trade partnership and continuing our major development programme.As Bangladesh’s friend and the biggest bilateral grant donor we care deeply about Bangladesh’s future and value deeply the UK’s relationship with Bangladesh, the British High Commissioner said. She said Bangladesh’s people have made an immense positive contribution to British society.We believe we can support Bangladesh on its democratic path and as it grows to be a stronger and more prosperous nation for all its people, the British High Commissioner said.
