Prime Minister Tarique Rahman held 30 formal programmes, including bilateral meetings with 11 countries, during his five-day visit to New York to attend the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, said PM’s Adviser and Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Spokesperson Mahdi Amin.
He said Bangladesh’s national interests, trade and investment, manpower export, energy security, regional cooperation, the Rohingya crisis, healthcare, climate change and global peace featured prominently in the meetings and programmes.
Mahdi made the remarks while briefing Bangladeshi journalists at the Bangladesh Permanent Mission to the UN in New York on Friday.
He said eight programmes were directly related to the UN General Assembly, while the Prime Minister attended four high-level side events, held 11 bilateral meetings with different countries and had several other meetings with heads of international organisations and other dignitaries.
The Prime Minister discussed issues of Bangladesh’s interests with the countries concerned, including ways to increase people-to-people contacts, trade and investment and deepen partnerships, Mahdi said.
He said Tarique Rahman began Friday’s programmes with a breakfast meeting hosted by JPMorgan Chase with around 20 leading Wall Street investors, where they discussed ways to increase investment in Bangladesh, particularly in the financial sector.
He later met the president of the International Peace Institute, where Bangladesh’s return to the democratic path and its role in promoting peace and the rule of law were discussed, Mahdi said.
The Prime Minister also held a meeting with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, where issues of human rights, the rule of law and democracy in Bangladesh came up for discussion, he said.
The adviser said the Prime Minister held three important bilateral meetings on Friday with leaders of three Middle East countries — the Crown Prince of Kuwait, the Saudi foreign minister and the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates.
“Bangladesh’s interests were discussed in all three meetings,” he said.
The meetings focused on protecting the interests of Bangladeshi workers in the countries, increasing manpower exports, cooperation in the energy and mineral sectors and attracting investment to Bangladesh, Mahdi said.
The three countries also invited the Prime Minister to visit them, he said.
“Bangladesh wants to take its relations with these countries to a new level in the areas of manpower export, energy security, trade and investment,” the PMO spokesperson said.
Giving an overview of the Prime Minister’s four-day programme, he said Tarique Rahman attended eight programmes linked directly to the General Assembly and delivered speeches at five of them.
He also held meetings with the World Bank president, the UN Secretary-General, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Myanmar, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, among others.
The Prime Minister also met representatives of the Gates Foundation, the International Peace Institute and leading Wall Street investors, besides attending programmes with development partners and the local community, Mahdi said.
He said Bangladesh organised two high-level side events on the Rohingya crisis and midwifery and maternal and newborn healthcare in partnership with international organisations and other countries.
The Prime Minister also addressed high-level events on climate action and a just transition and sea-level rise, the adviser said.
He said Tarique Rahman’s wife Dr Zubaida Rahman also attended eight high-level programmes during the visit and delivered remarks at four of them.
Among them were the UN General Assembly Platform of Women Leaders, the First Spouses’ Dialogue and a high-level side event on midwifery and maternal and newborn healthcare, Mahdi said.
“Altogether, the Prime Minister and members of his delegation represented Bangladesh at around 80 different programmes during the four-day visit,” he said.
Mahdi said the visit was conducted with a relatively small delegation and the government sought to make the best use of the limited time by highlighting Bangladesh’s interests at every meeting.
“The Prime Minister is representing Bangladesh on the global stage after a long time as the head of a government elected by the people,” he said.
The PMO spokesperson said Tarique Rahman’s address to the UN General Assembly went beyond Bangladesh’s domestic priorities and highlighted global peace, humanity, democracy, human rights and international cooperation.
“We believe the democratic government’s journey will continue and, under the Prime Minister’s leadership, Bangladesh will move forward as a more prosperous and self-reliant country on the global stage,” he said.