Foreign Affairs
Bangladesh urges Japanese businessmen to invest more in various sectors
Bangladesh Ambassador to Japan Shahabuddin Ahmed has urged the Japanese businessmen and investors to invest in various sectors in Bangladesh including information technology, garment industry, and leather.
He also highlighted Japan's involvement in various mega projects in Bangladesh and thanked the Japanese government for their continuous support.
In the context of the decreasing population in Japan, the Ambassador urged Japan's manpower recruiting agencies to recruit skilled workers from Bangladesh.
Read Japan honours businessman Matiur Rahman with Order of the Rising Sun award
He was addressing a seminar on ‘Trade, Investment and Skilled Human Resources’ held in Saitama, Japan on Wednesday.
Nearly 200 participants from Japanese companies and manpower recruiting organisations were present at the event, said the Bangladesh Embassy in Tokyo.
The seminar was organised as part of celebrating 50 years of Bangladesh-Japan diplomatic relations supported by the City of Saitama, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Saitama, UNIDO-ITPO Tokyo, and JITCO.
Read: Japan to provide US$ 5 million to promote Bangladesh primary education
From the city of Saitama, Hitoshi Shibuya, director, Department of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism, Bureau of Economic Affairs spoke.
Dr Ariful Haque, Minister (Commerce) of the Embassy delivered a presentation on trade and investment opportunities in Bangladesh, and Md Zoynal Abedin, first secretary (Labour), of the Embassy, presented on the ‘Prospects and Potentials of Skilled Human Resources in Bangladesh: Collaboration with Japan for Greater Mutual Benefit.’
Noriyoshi Fukuoka, director (South Asia), Trade Policy Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) praised Bangladesh’s economic progress and prospects.
Read Japan: Lasting Rohingya solutions to help a free Indo-Pacific
Yuji Ando, country representative, JETRO Bangladesh discussed the business environment in Bangladesh through a video message.
Toshihiro Shimizu, from JICA, presented on JICA’s business supporting survey in Bangladesh and Kiminobu Hiraishi, CEO of Maruhisha Group shared business experiences of Japanese textile companies in Bangladesh.
Ambassador Shigeo Matsutomi, senior vice president, Japan International Trainee & Skilled Worker Cooperation Organisation (JITCO) discussed on sending or acceptance structure of Bangladeshi trainees & workers, and Keisuke Irako, chief director, Machida Hospital shared experiences of recruiting Bangladeshi caregivers in his hospital.
Read Japan pulls out of Matarbari-2 plant after consulting Bangladesh: Nasrul
Embassy officials, officials, and representatives from METI, JICA, JETRO, Japan Chamber, and UNIDO ITPO Tokyo, among others, attended the seminar.
Momen for working with India to avoid flood damages
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has emphasised working with India and developing a better system for water management and regulations to avoid flood damages.
"We have to work together; we have 54 rivers that come from India to Bangladesh. And right now when I am talking, I have a devastating flood in my own constituency in Sylhet. It came from Assam and Meghalaya," he told WION in an interview in New Delhi Saturday.
Momen said they would like to share their expertise and data so that they have an early warning about this sort of disaster.
"Before Pakistan was created, we used to have floods, but not as devastating as we have now," he said.
The foreign minister is now in Delhi to co-chair the seventh meeting of the Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) with his Indian counterpart Dr S Jaishankar Sunday.
Read: Sylhet: A city tries to cope with its worst flood in living memory
During his conversation with WION, Momen said he would discuss the Rohingya issue with Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar. "If Bangladesh, India and Myanmar work together, we can resolve it. We can have a sustainable solution to it."
Sunday's JCC meeting will be the first such physical meeting of the mechanism since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the previous edition taking place virtually in 2020.
Momen said they have been supportive of Sri Lanka during the financial difficulty. "We provided funding of around $250 million, food, a gift of 25,000 tons of potato, and a few thousand tons of medicines. And we are ready to help them as much as we can."
Bangladesh ready to engage with everyone who wishes no harm: FM
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Thursday said Bangladesh is ready to engage with everyone who wishes no harm and who would not wish to use Bangladesh’s resources for launching offensive agenda of their own.
“We believe in inclusive and sustainable development. We continuously study the international events,” he said, adding that Bangladesh is no longer price takers but engages with the world on its own terms.
Momen said they believe in ‘reasoning by first principle’ and believe in partnerships for mutual economic benefits.
“That’s how we envision and leverage our sovereign national interests. I believe that the strategic location, the rich demographic dividend and a strong domestic market makes us an important player on the chessboard and our choices make us a pivot and a pole both,” said the foreign minister.
Momen was addressing a hybrid seminar on “Changing Global Order: Securing Bangladesh’s National Interest” organized by Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) in the city.
The foreign minister said they believe, as Bangabandhu believed “peace is imperative for economic development” and let Bangladesh emit the gospel of peace and stability across nations.
Read: FM Momen discusses issues of mutual interest with Turkish counterpart
He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by giving shelter to 1.1 million persecuted ethnic minority of Myanmar has again set up an example in the world that “humanity is above all”. “Let us applaud Sheikh Hasina.”
Momen said Bangladesh is a country of resilience and its people are defenders of high moral grounds. “From the time of the War of Independence to the pandemic, from flood to drought, we have shown our courage, our resiliency and we fought valiantly.”
He said they are a nation that the Almighty blessed abundantly with natural resources. “Whatever happens, whatever comes in our path in the future, Bangabandhu's Golden Bengal will come alive and none can suppress us.”
Momen also said, “We will sustain. We will prosper with pride and with honour.”
Ambassador Kazi Imtiaz Hossain, Chairman, BIISS, chaired the inaugural session and Major General Mohammad Maksudur Rahman, Director General, BIISS, delivered the welcome remarks.
Maksudur Rahman highlighted the uncertainties related to the changing nature of global order and focused on the importance of balancing the emerging realities and enhancing cooperation by minimizing competition among the great powers.
Despite uncertainties due to the changing global order, he said, Bangladesh has maintained a policy of mutual respect and non-interference and nurtured friendly relations with the global community through its principle of "friendship to all, enmity to none".
He further added that even though Bangladesh is maintaining a good balance, the country needs to monitor international changes carefully so that it can meet new challenges that may arise due to the shift in the global order.
Ambassador Kazi Imtiaz Hossain said due to the changing global order, Bangladesh needs to establish its goals while keeping in mind its basic national interests, including stable economic growth and development of the country.
Furthermore, he added that given such a shift in the global order, ensuring the export driven-market and retaining remittance flow needs to be given utmost priority.
He concluded by saying that Bangladesh must make the best policy choices to ensure food and environmental security, including increasing domestic food production and playing a more significant role in battling climate change.
Shamsher M. Chowdhury, former Foreign Secretary, chaired the working session and delivered his remarks.
Dr. Rashed Uz Zaman, Professor, Department of International Relations, University of Dhaka, presented on “Transitions in International Order: South Asian Perspective”, Dr. Nazneen Ahmed, Country Economist and Head of Policy and Strategic Advisory Unit, UNDP, Bangladesh presented on “Bangladesh’s LDC Graduation in Shifting World Order: Opportunities and Challenges”, Dr. Razia Sultana, Research Fellow, BIISS, presented on “Putting the National Interest First: Bangladesh’s Position in Changing Global Scenario”, and ASM Tarek Hassan Semul, Research Fellow, BIISS, presented on “Emerging Constellations in the Indo-Pacific: Bangladesh’s Foreign Policy Predicaments”.
Senior officials from different government ministries, members of diplomatic community, former ambassadors, senior military officials, media, academia, researchers, faculties and students from different universities, and representatives from various international organizations participated in the seminar and they shared their insights in the open discussion session.
Myanmar military junta continues its attempts to hide truth: UN expert
The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, will conduct a mission to Malaysia from June 17 to 23.
“As conditions continue to deteriorate in Myanmar, and the military junta continues its attempts to hide the truth, I remain steadfast in pursuing my mandate to document and report on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. I will continue to meet with people from Myanmar including those who have fled the country since the coup,” Andrews said.
The Special Rapporteur will visit Kuala Lumpur, where he will meet representatives of Government, Members of Parliament, UN officials, experts who work on Myanmar and ASEAN foreign policy, as well as representatives of civil society and community-based organisations.
Read: Myanmar Crisis: US, ASEAN urged to increase pressure on Myanmar military junta
“This visit is the beginning of a project of deeper regional engagement with the ASEAN region in relation to the crisis in Myanmar,” said the expert.
“Given the central role of ASEAN regarding Myanmar, I hope to visit a number of other ASEAN member states in the coming months.”
The Special Rapporteur will hold a press conference to share his preliminary observations with the media on June 23 in Kuala Lumpur.
A former member of the US Congress from Maine, Andrews is a Robina Senior Human Rights Fellow at Yale Law School and an Associate of Harvard University’s Asia Center.
Asia-Pacific Regional Forum on minority issues to spotlight stronger protection for minorities
The two-day online Asia-Pacific Regional Forum is scheduled to begin in Geneva on Tuesday with a focus on building stronger protection mechanisms for minorities in the region.
The Forum marks the 30th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.
UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues Fernand de Varennes is scheduled to convene the Regional Forum in collaboration with the Tom Lantos Institute.
“Review-Rethink-Reform is the theme of this year’s Regional Forum. The time has come to reflect on the challenges facing minorities in Asia and the Pacific, the extent their situation has evolved in the last 30 years, and what is needed to build stronger rights protection mechanisms for minorities,” de Varennes said.
Read: Hasina urges joint Asia-Pacific action to meet water-related challenges
The Regional Forum will bring together 152 representatives from 25 countries, UN and regional organisations, academics, civil society groups specializing in minority issues and representatives of minorities from different parts of Asia and the Pacific.
Speakers will include Shigeru Aoyagi, Director of the UNESCO Bangkok, Ambassador Nassima Baghli, Permanent Observer of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, Cynthia Veliko, Regional Representative of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in South-East Asia, and Stefano Sensi, Deputy Regional Representative of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Pacific.
The Regional Forum for Asia and the Pacific is the second of four regional fora convened by the UN expert in 2022.
Discussions will inform the work and recommendations of the 15th session of the UN Forum on Minority Issues which will take place in Geneva in December 2022.
Emergency response: Beijing keen to strengthen cooperation with Dhaka
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said his country is willing to work with Bangladesh to strengthen cooperation in emergency response to safeguard the safety and well-being of people.
In a recent condolence message sent to his Bangladesh counterpart AK Abdul Momen, Wang said he was shocked to learn about the fire accident at a container depot in Chattogram and deeply saddened by the passing of the victims.
Read: UN voices concern over action against Odhikar
He extended his sympathy to the bereaved families and the injured, and offered to provide the necessary assistance to Bangladesh according to needs, said the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka Friday.
Pursuing economic diplomacy to contribute to timely attainment of SDGs: FM
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has sought stronger efforts to promote economic diplomacy, noting that attracting foreign direct investment has always been a cornerstone of their economic diplomacy.
“As we have lost two years due to the pandemic, time has come to further bolster our efforts,” he said, adding that their endeavour of effectively pursuing economic diplomacy would also immensely contribute to the timely attainment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Momen was speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural session of the “First Economic Diplomacy Week” that began at Foreign Service Academy in city on Thursday.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), in collaboration with the relevant ministries and divisions, is hosting the programme as the country seeks prosperity through economic diplomacy.
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, Secretary (Maritime Affairs Unit) Rear Admiral (Retd) Md. Khurshed Alam and reactor at Foreign Service Academy Ambassador Asad Alam Siam, among others, spoke at the session.
Momen said the economic diplomacy package has five components and these are more foreign investment, more trade and export diversity, gainful employment of human resources both at home and abroad, transfer of technology, and quality services to Bangladeshi Diaspora and to others.
Read: Bangladesh wants peace, stability everywhere: FM
He said the ministry of commerce, teaming up with Bangladesh Missions abroad, is in the process of finalizing preferential and free trade deals with a number of countries.
“We have already conducted feasibility studies on 23 countries for bilateral and regional trade agreements, free trade agreement and comprehensive economic agreement. We are opening up new markets,” the foreign minister said.
Foreign Minister Momen said Bangladesh’s stable growth and political stability has raised tens of millions to ‘middle class and affluence’ status.
Apart from being a booming domestic market, he said, Bangladesh is also a strategic hub linking India, China and the ASEAN countries.
Momen hoped that Bangladesh will be a developed nation by 2041 and Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s dream of building a ‘Golden Bengal’ will be realized.
“I am confident that the vision of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina emphasizing on economic diplomacy and its implementation by all concerned ministries and authorities of the government will help realize this dream,” he said.
A country, one-seventh of whose population had to seek refuge in neighbouring India during 1971; Momen said, Bangladesh is now globally praised due to its generosity and capacity in temporarily sheltering over a million Rohingyas on its land.
Read: Bangladeshi students in Hungary urged to contribute to Bangladesh’s dev
A country that was known to be “controlled by nature and not by men” due to recurrent natural calamities, Bangladesh has now become a global example of disaster preparedness, he said.
Renowned scholars, high officials, business leaders and members of the academia are also joining the two-day programme (Thursday and Saturday).
The issues related to blue economy, climate action, sustainable development goals, agricultural innovations, contact farming, food security, connectivity, human resources and skills development; trade liberalization are being discussed to identify the challenges and opportunities in these areas.
China and Russia defend North Korea vetoes in first at UN
China and Russia defended their vetoes of a strongly backed U.S. resolution that would have imposed tough new sanctions on North Korea, speaking at a first of its kind General Assembly meeting Wednesday.
The debate was held under new rules requiring the General Assembly to examine any veto wielded in the Security Council by one of its five permanent members.
Close allies China and Russia reiterated their opposition to more sanctions, blaming the United States for rising tensions on the Korean peninsula and insisting that what’s needed now is dialogue between North Korea and the Biden administration.
Nearly 70 countries signed up to speak at the open meeting which General Assembly President Abdalla Shahid hailed as making the U.N. more efficient and accountable. “It is with good reason that it has been coined as `revolutionary’ by several world leaders I have recently met,” he said.
Denmark’s U.N. Ambassador Martin Bille Hermann told the 193-member world body as he started his address on behalf of the Nordic countries: “History is being made today.”
The Security Council is entrusted with ensuring international peace and security, he said, and the use of a veto to prevent the council from discharging its duties “is a matter of great concern.”
The General Assembly’s adoption of a resolution on April 26 requiring a debate on the issue not only gives the country or countries casting a veto to explain their reason but it gives all U.N. member nations “a welcome opportunity to share our views on the matter at hand,” Hermann said.
A united Security Council imposed sanctions after North Korea’s first nuclear test explosion in 2006 and tightened them over the years in a total of 10 resolutions seeking — so far unsuccessfully — to rein in its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and cut off funding.
The 13-2 Security Council vote on May 26 marked a first serious division among its five veto-wielding permanent members — China, Russia, United States, Britain and France — on a North Korea sanctions resolution.
Read: North Korea's Kim at critical crossroads decade into rule
On Sunday, North Korea fired eight short-range missiles in what appeared to be a single-day record for the country’s ballistic launches. It was the reclusive north Asian country’s 18th round of missile tests in 2022 that included its first launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles in nearly five years.
U.S. deputy ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis told the assembly the record number of launches have taken place as North Korea “is finalizing preparations for a potential seventh nuclear test.”
He called the actions by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or DPRK — the country’s official name — “unprovoked.”
De Laurentis stressed that U.S. President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken “have repeatedly and publicly said that we seek a dialogue with Pyongyang, without preconditions,” and that message has been passed through private channels, including China.
“The United States is more than prepared to discuss easing sanctions to achieve the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” he said.
Unfortunately, DeLaurentis said, the DPRK has only responded with “destabilizing launches that threaten not only the region but the world.”
Under the General Assembly resolution that required Wednesday’s meeting, the permanent member or members casting a veto are given precedence on the speakers list.
China’s U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun addressed diplomats first, accusing the United States of ignoring positive steps taken by the DPRK and returning to its “old path” of “chanting empty slogans for dialogue and increasing sanctions against the DPRK.”
This has intensified “the DPRK distrust of the U.S.” and brought talks “to a complete deadlock,” he said.
Zhang blamed “the flip-flop of U.S. policies,” its failure to implement results of the DPRK-U.S. dialogue during the Trump administration, and its disregard for the North’s “reasonable concerns” for tensions on the peninsula today.
“Where the situation goes from here will depend to a large extent on the actions of the U.S.,” he said, “and the key lies in whether the U.S. can face up to the crux of the problem, demonstrate a reasonable attitude, and take meaningful concrete actions.”
Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Anna Evstigneeva said new sanctions against the DPRK “would be a dead end,” stressing that current U.N. sanctions have failed to guarantee security in the region “nor moved us any further toward settling the nuclear missile non-proliferation issues.”
Read: North Korea urges South to stop mediating between North, US
“Anyone who is seriously addressing the North Korean problem has long understood that it’s futile to expect Pyongyang to unconditionally disarm under the threat of a spiral of sanctions,” she said. “The creation of new military blocs in the regions such as the formation of the U.S.-Great Britain and Australia casts serious doubt on the good intentions of these countries,” including in Pyongyang.
North Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Kim Song denounced all U.N. sanctions and the proposed U.S. resolution as “illegal,” saying they violate the U.N. Charter and his country’s right to self-defense to prepare for any potential security crisis on the Korean peninsula and in the region.
Modernizing the DPRK’s armaments is essential, he said, to safeguard North Korea’s interests “from direct threat of the United States,” which he insisted has made no move “to abandon its hostile policy.”
Success requires partners like Bangladesh amid new global economic order: Hungary
Hungarian minister of foreign affairs and trade Peter Szijjarto has said a new world economic order is emerging where success requires partners like Bangladesh.
He described Bangladesh as one of the fastest growing economies where he sees a huge opportunity for Hungarian companies in Bangladesh.
Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen held bilateral talks with the Hungarian minister in Budapest on Tuesday.
Read: Bangladeshi students in Hungary urged to contribute to Bangladesh’s dev
Bangladesh, South Sudan keen to deepen ties with multiple deals
Bangladesh and South Sudan on Monday discussed cooperation in a number of sectors as the two countries are keen to tap the potential for mutual benefits.
A high-level delegation of the government of South Sudan led by Deng Dau Deng, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Minister of Defense, Secretary, Trade and Industry and other high officials met Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen at State guesthouse Padma in the evening.
Dr Momen proposed that both sides can conclude agreements in the areas like agriculture, including contract farming, visa exemption for holders of diplomatic and official passports, promotion and protection of investment, cooperation in trade and bilateral consultations between the Foreign Ministries of both the countries.
Also read: South Sudanese delegation arrives in Dhaka
It was agreed that draft agreements from Bangladesh side would be forwarded to the South Sudanese side for their consideration, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.