Noting that Bangladesh is moving forward on all fronts, Ireland’s Ambassador to Bangladesh Kevin Kelly has said Bangladesh can continue to be a “very responsible voice” on the international stage by supporting peace, democracy and equality for all.
“Bangladesh is on the move. Bangladesh is moving forward. We want to see Bangladesh strengthening its economy, democracy and strengthening the way in which it projects itself in the world and engaging even more with countries like Ireland on the international stage,” he told UNB in an exclusive interview, mentioning that Bangladesh and Ireland can be “true partners” moving forward in that direction.
The Irish ambassador to Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives said they support Bangladesh in many different ways in terms of multilateral forums.
“We support each other in different UN bodies. So I would like to see more of this. I really hope that the country will continue on the path of development, which is a challenge for all countries, it's a challenge for Ireland, as we've faced many challenges,” he said.
Through his time as ambassador here, Kelly said he would try to cultivate business links, people links, educational links, and academic links as there is a whole range of possibilities. “So we're just starting on this journey. And I think there's a long way to go.”
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Easing Visa for Bangladeshis
On easing visa for Bangladeshis, he said they are working out how they can make the process much easier for Bangladeshi citizens who want to visit Ireland and who will hopefully mean this they want in Dhaka.
“We haven't yet worked out all the mechanics of how it works. But the sense is our ambition is that within a very short period of time, people will be able to apply for their visa online, as happens anywhere in the world, and will be able to collect their visa in Dhaka,” he said.
Through Delhi, Ireland has a very big visa operation, and it is actually their biggest visa operation in the world.
“We hope to make the process much easier. And then I'm pledging that this work will happen in a short period of time,” ambassador Kelly said who earlier served as Ambassador of Ireland to the Netherlands and Special Envoy of the Government of Ireland to Africa for Ireland’s campaign for election to the UN Security Council.
We are on a Momentum
Responding to a question, he said Bangladesh is a country that they are interested in working more with.
“We were one of the first countries to recognize Bangladesh after its independence. So we've always had an affinity, partly because we were both colonized nations, and we've both had similar paths towards development. Bangladesh is fast moving towards coming out of LDC status. We feel that there's some very interesting ways in which we can collaborate. So the relationship is growing,” he added.
The ambassador said Ireland has recently opened its first honorary consulate in Dhaka with a very dynamic and young guy – Masud Jamil Khan - as its honorary consul who is successful in business and media. “And we know he's got huge energy for building the relationship. So, we're on a momentum. That's why it's great to be here in Dhaka this week.”
Asked how the relations can grow further, he said first of all they have to understand where the points of interest are.
“Bangladesh is a bigger country than us with a bigger population. We're a relatively small country. We see you very much as a gateway into this region. Your economy has been doing very well. I know that you're facing certain challenges at the moment. But we again faced economic challenges in the past, and we've come through them. We see ourselves as a gateway into the European Union, a market of 500 million people,” he mentioned.
The ambassador said they have a policy priority in all of their multilateral organizations, if it is in the EU, if it is in the United Nations, if it is at other organizations multilaterally. “We always try to take the side of countries that are on the road to development. What I was saying today is that we'd like to be a friend. We always try to push for as maximum flexibility as possible.”
The ambassador added, “Of course, we are part of the European Union. Trade policy is decided by the European Union and by the European Commission. We have a voice around the table. So we would hopefully be very responsive to approaches from Bangladesh, if they come up with legitimate reasons why there are needs for additional flexibility that we could hopefully help to champion those in our discussions with the European Union.”
The Irish envoy said they know that there are already strong exports in terms of the garment industry, with one of the big companies actually becoming a global name is Primark which an Irish company.
“So we know that there's already something to build upon. But we think that there could be other opportunities. We yet to have a very detailed analysis of where they might be,” he said.
The envoy mentioned the Irish tech industry, ICT, and pharmaceuticals, and said there is a whole new generation of industries now developing around AI, climate change, and renewable energy.
“So we would think that there could be scope in a whole range of areas to have those discussions. The important thing is to raise awareness about what the opportunities are. So raising awareness both in Bangladesh and Ireland - who we are, what we can offer, what support are there for companies willing to invest in Ireland, and the opportunities that might exist here in a range of sectors,” he said.
“I think that's we're very much at the start, like I said, of this journey, because I think the sky's the limit in terms of what the possibilities might be.
Opportunities for Bangladeshi Students
Asked about higher studies in Ireland, the ambassador said the Irish universities are hungry for providing quality education. “I have to tell you, in India, it's now huge. So there's possibly about 10,000 Indian students going to study in Irish universities every year.”
Bangladesh should see Ireland as a friend in European Union: Irish Minister
Every year, Irish universities are coming to India, trying to promote what Irish universities have to offer to attract Indian students, he said.
“It would be my ambition that Bangladesh becomes part of that. I think it's a very modest number. By comparison, it might be less than 500 students per year from Bangladesh,” he said.
Bangladeshi students always look to go to the US or Canada or the UK. “They're not considering Ireland. Maybe that's a piece of work that I have to do in terms of raising awareness here in Bangladesh, about what education in Ireland means and what the opportunities are.”
“We've got some very good benefits. So, for example, a foreign student who comes to study in Ireland and does an undergraduate degree is guaranteed a work permit for one year in any industry. If they've done a postgraduate degree, they can have two years' work permit. That gives you enough time to start to develop links to build up capacity in the industry.”
He said some of them will stay on and will get permanent jobs with work permits. “Some of them will want to go to America or elsewhere. Some of them will want to come home, and hopefully, that's good too, and it'll benefit the Bangladesh economy.”
Decision on Palestine was a Necessity
Responding to a question on the Palestine issue, the envoy said they have been a strong, long-term, consistent supporter of the two-state solution.
“We believe that there will be no peace in the Middle East or West Asia until there's a recognition of the sovereign rights of two countries to live peacefully side by side,” he said.
Spain, Ireland, and Norway formally recognised a Palestinian state on Tuesday in a coordinated decision slammed by Israel as a "reward" for Hamas, more than seven months into the devastating Gaza war.
“Unfortunately, there are some critics from Israel who have chosen to paint this as a criticism or as being anti Israeli. It is not. This is about a stance that we felt was necessary in terms of the direction that things were going and the complete difficulty that Palestine was facing in terms of its future survival,” he said.
And this is all about trying to say that they need a peaceful solution based on a respectful relationship between two countries.
“We feel that there needs to be an immediate ceasefire. There needs to be the return of the hostages, of course, we've been saying that from the very beginning. But there needs to be a stop to the dreadful violence that's happening. That's affecting thousands of men, women, and children. And until we get a ceasefire, people in Israel and in Palestine won't be able to live peacefully.