Bangladesh marching forward

Noting that Bangladesh has friendly relations with all, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said Bangladesh was marching forward and getting foreign investment as the country had no hostility to anyone.

“We have friendly relations with all. Now, Bangladesh has no hostile relation with anyone as it follows the foreign policy adopted by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rah-man... This is why Bangladesh is marching forward and receiving investments,” she said refer-ring to Bangladesh’s friendly relations with both China and India.

The prime minister made the remarks while addressing a civic reception accorded to her at Legendale Hotel in Beijing.

Expatriate Bangladeshis hosted the reception under the supervision of Bangladesh Embassy in Beijing on the occasion of the prime minister’s bilateral official visit to China.

Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh had been moving forward following the policy – “Friendship to all and malice to none”.

“If there is any stable government and democratic environment, it can attract investment,” she said, adding that her government is setting up 100 special economic zones in the country.

Noting that China turned into the world’s 2nd largest economy from a poor one in the last 70 years, the prime minister urged expatriate Bangladeshis to learn from the China’s history and development.

She said China still faces obstacles as many would not want to see a country from this region or Asia to be the largest economy in the world.

Mentioning that Bangabandhu had been taking the country forward with 7 percent GDP growth by building a war-ravaged country within only three and a half years, she said the anti-liberation forces hindered the development journey of the country.

Though the killers of the Father of the Nation were tried, those who had been behind the kill-ing and its conspirators are yet to be identified, Sheikh Hasina, the eldest daughter of Banga-bandhu, said.

She said time would come when the facts (behind the killing) come to the fore.

About the country’s development in the last one decade, Sheikh Hasina said the country’s GDP growth was now 8.10 percent and her government passed the Tk 523,190-crore budget for 2019-20 fiscal year recently.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen also spoke at the event conducted by Bangladesh Am-bassador to China Md Fazlul Karim. Among expatriate Bangladeshis, Engineer Shamsul Haque spoke on the occasion.

The prime minister arrived in Beijingon yesterday morning after joining the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Annual Meeting of New Champions, 2019 held in Dalian city.

Sheikh Hasina departed from Dhaka for China on July 1 and is scheduled to return Dhaka on July 6.