The US Embassy in Dhaka has announced the arrival of Reed Aeschliman, the new Mission Director for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in Bangladesh.
"I am excited to be in Dhaka and look forward to deepening our strong partnership with the people of Bangladesh to achieve the shared goal of helping this nation become an upper middle-income country by 2031,” said Mission Director Aeschliman on Sunday.
Mission Director Aeschliman joined the US Mission in Bangladesh as a senior leader with immense knowledge of the South Asia region.
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He is “committed to strengthening” relations with Bangladesh as a “key strategic partner” in major development initiatives, including food security, economic growth, climate change, health, democracy, human rights, and governance, said the US Embassy in Dhaka.
Reed Aeschliman is a career member of the United States Senior Foreign Service.
Prior to his assignment as Mission Director to Bangladesh, Aeschliman served as USAID Mission Director in Pakistan from 2022-2023, in Sri Lanka and Maldives from 2018-2022, and has also served in leadership positions in the Philippines and Pacific Islands, as well as Afghanistan, Cambodia, and India.
He also held positions in Washington, DC as Deputy Assistant Administrator in USAID’s Bureau for Asia Affairs, and as the Director of the Office of Energy and Infrastructure in the Bureau for Economic Growth, Education, and Environment.
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Before joining USAID in 2000, Aeschliman served as a US Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand. He also practiced law as assistant law director for the city of Akron, Ohio, and a private practice in Columbus, Ohio, engaging in international legal consulting assignments in Southeast Asia and China.
Aeschliman holds a Master’s Degree in International Affairs, Southeast Asian Studies from Ohio University, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Akron School of Law.