No impact on EU business interest in Bangladesh
EU Ambassador to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley has said he does not see any sign that a European Parliament member's recent letter seeking sanctions on Rab was having an impact on European business interest in Bangladesh.
"I would say business is business, and they [investors] pay attention to whether they can make money in the country and whether there are attractive business climates. So, I haven't seen any signs yet that these developments would have an impact on business engagement in Bangladesh," he said.
The diplomat was responding to a question from a journalist at a Meet the Reporters event, hosted by the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU), at its Nasrul Hamid Auditorium yesterday.
The European Union envoy said businesses pay attention to the overall picture in a country.
Whiteley said what matters to businesses is to do their business in a "good, clean and fair way" with a level playing field. "I think that's the primary concern. Sometimes, political developments can have an impact on businesses."
Ivan Stefanec, a member of the European Parliament (MEP), recently wrote to Josep Borrell, high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy, seeking sanctions against Rab.
The envoy said the letter came from an individual MEP, not from the European Parliament as a whole.
Regarding Bangladesh's next general election, the envoy appreciated the government's "very open approach" towards foreign observers. He said the EU was keen to follow the polls closely.
"I would say we very much welcomed the statement by the foreign minister [AK Abdul Momen] the other day where he said Bangladesh would welcome and have an open approach to any foreign observation missions that would wish to come and follow the elections," Whiteley said.
The ambassador did not comment on the US sanctions against Rab saying that it is a matter of the United States.
He said the EU expressed concerns about several human rights issues in Bangladesh, including an annual Human Rights Report, which is freely available online.
The European Parliament itself has adopted resolutions in the past on the human rights situation in Bangladesh, the diplomat said.
DRU President Nazrul Islam Mithu and General Secretary Nurul Islam Hasib also spoke at the programme.
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