"Twenty three percent of our current budget is devoted to gender issues, and 57 percent to poverty alleviation; it is as pro-poor a budget as can be," he said at a panel discussion in Geneva during the UN ECOSOC High Level Ministerial Segment Conference, according to a Foreign Ministry press release.

"Bangladesh's experiences show that development is best achieved when a country is in control of its own destiny. Also, if policies followed are home-grown," he told the panel.

Iftekhar also said that Bangladesh pursues 'gender equality' not only as a goal to achieve social justice, but also as an important tool for development.

He added that the government of Bangladesh combines its policies to facilitate economic growth through free-market system, while also casting a wide social safety net to assist the vulnerable groups in society.

Iftekhar described Bangladesh's economic approach as "walking on two legs, one symbolising free market and the other social consciousness."

The panel focused on various methodologies employed by the UN Regional Commissions around the world to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.