Newly appointed Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said on Tuesday one of the main priorities of his ministry would be to attract foreign investment to the country.
"In this regard, we will gear up efforts in coordination with the ministries concerned," he said while speaking at his first media briefing.
"My personal vision is to ensure the attainment of sustainable development goals by 2030 and fulfil the dream of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to turn Bangladesh into a 'Sonar Bangla'," he added.
"We have to work hard to meet the challenges to turn Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021. These tasks are not easy. We need cooperation from all, including our foreign partners," Dr Momen said.
"Building a developed, prosperous and secular Bangladesh was the vision of Bangabandhu where there will be less income disparity between the rich and the poor. We want to achieve this vision under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," he said.
And for this, he said, we want cooperation from friendly countries. "We want to set up partnership with them. This partnership has to be solid and on the basis of mutual trust and sovereignty."
Replying to a question he said, he had given up his US citizenship.
Earlier, state minister for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam told the media that Rohingya repatriation, gearing up manpower export, strengthening economic diplomacy, and mobilising more resources for the ministry would be the key priorities of the foreign ministry for the next five years.
"Rohingya repatriation remains a pending issue but I am confident that we will be able to start it very soon."
Responding to a question, Shahriar Alam said the last general election came in for 'criticism' from the western countries due to their lack of proper information about the polls.
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