The post of high commissioner is vacant for over a year at the Bangladesh mission in South Africa, considered to be one of the new major export markets for the country.
Foreign ministry officials said the last high commissioner, Md Shahidul Islam, was transferred to Saudi Arabia on December 16, 2010 and since then the seat has been vacant.
Owing to the absence of the head of mission, routine activities are being hampered. Besides, junior officials cannot attend many government events, business meetings and other programmes where Bangladesh needs to be represented by an ambassador, said the officials.
According to the Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report (APTIR), 2011, Japan, South America and South Africa are becoming Bangladesh's new export destinations.
South Africa, now the richest and economically strongest country in the African region, imports from Bangladesh raw materials such as leather and finished jute and also readymade garment, fish and medicine.
Bangladesh has an opportunity to export its manpower to South Africa as well since huge development works are taking place in that country.
South Africa's exports to Bangladesh are iron ore, steel, aluminium, infrastructure machinery, and machinery and equipment for railways.
According to officials at the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, around 50,000 to 60,000 Bangladeshis are now in South Africa and the majority of them are engaged in trade or having small business houses.
Bangladesh opened a full-fledged mission in Pretoria in the African country on February 26, 1995 to promote trade and commerce, export of its products and manpower.
The Pretoria mission can play an important role in increasing Bangladesh's trade and export in other African countries around South Africa as there is no other Bangladeshi mission in that region, said foreign ministry officials.
They observe that as purchasing power and consumerism are increasing, countries around South Africa now hold potential markets for Bangladeshi products like garments, jute and jute products, pharmaceuticals and leather products.
The importance of South Africa has increased manifold following the establishment of an economic bloc, the BRICS, a group comprised of five major emerging economies-- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Asked about the delay in appointing a high commissioner, a senior official of the foreign ministry said this was nothing but sheer negligence of the higher authorities.