Bangladesh's trade prospects bright
Foreign friends are now “growingly” engaging with Bangladesh with a special focus on building economic relations which will be broader and deeper in the current year, says State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam.
“This is a fantastic position for Bangladesh,” Shahriar told UNB yesterday, adding that Bangladesh is now gradually becoming a “trade-dependent country” instead of an “aid-dependent one”.
He said once Bangladesh used to maintain relations with foreign countries to keep its exports unhurt and now many countries are coming here willingly and want to get engaged in trade with Bangladesh.
“They're putting emphasis on economic relationship with Bangladesh but I don't want to specify any country as the numbers are many,” he added.
Responding to a question Shahriar said Bangladesh will focus on exploring new export markets instead of looking for trade privileges. “It's a new area of work for our missions abroad.”
Despite challenges, he said, Bangladesh's export remained unhurt and credit goes to joint efforts.
Describing 2016 as one of the most successful years in maintaining Bangladesh's relations with the external world, the state minister acknowledged that the July 1 terrorist attack emerged as a big challenge.
“However, within a span of six months in the same calendar year we could overcome the challenge and restore confidence among all,” he said.
Shahriar said the countries which issued travel alerts have softened their alerts and the number of incoming visits has increased significantly.
Successful completion of GFMD summit in Dhaka with the participation of over 700 foreign participants gives clear evidence on how security situation has been improved in the country, he said.
The state minister, however, said there is nothing to be complacent as globally security issue is a challenge and will remain a challenge.
He said the government will take more initiatives, if needed, to further strengthen its efforts on security front.
He said a number of high-level visits -- President, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and State Minister levels -- will take place in 2017 to strengthen Bangladesh's relations with the external world.
Responding to another question, he said Bangladesh will take the advantage of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) having its secretariat in Bangladesh.
“We'll try to strengthen our relations with Bimstec member states. Regional connectivity and security cooperation are absolutely on top of the agenda,” he said.
On manpower export market, the state minister said some 749,249 people went abroad in 2016 and got jobs there while the number was 555,881 in 2015.
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