Bangladesh to expand diplomatic network to 27 more countries

For reaching out to a greater global audience, the government has decided to expand its diplomatic network to 96 countries from the present 69.

Earlier, 30 missions used to maintain the ties either through concurrent accreditation or by appointing honorary consuls general or honorary consuls. Now, 38 have been accredited.

In the last five years, the government either opened or reopened 11 new diplomatic missions in Athens, Brasilia, Lisbon, Mexico City, Port Louis, Beirut, Istanbul, Kunming, Milan, Mumbai and Vienna.

Two others in Warsaw and Copenhagen are expected to become operational by this year's end.

Against this backdrop, the government reviewed the existing arrangement of concurrent accreditation.

The decision to widen Bangladesh's diplomatic presence across the world has been taken considering Bangladesh's growing economy, success in socio-economic development, key role in global peace keeping operations and vibrant engagement with multinational forums and topical and cross cutting issues, said a foreign ministry press release.

"Therefore, the review thus has enabled Bangladesh to cover 27 additional countries through its diplomatic outposts...This expansion will give the country more edge in terms of reaching out to a greater global audience," added the foreign ministry press release.