Canada for dialogue for true democratic process

Outgoing Canadian High Commissioner in Dhaka Heather Cruden encouraged dialogue Tuesday among all major political parties to ensure transparency and accountability in all democratic processes, reports UNB.

"We continue to encourage dialogue between all major political parties," she said during her interactions with ministers.

Cruden met Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader and Health Minister Mohammed Nasim.

She said the last three years were very interesting and challenging and Canada, like the citizens of Bangladesh, is pleased that all the political parties have eschewed violence since the elections.

The Canadian diplomat hoped that Bangladesh can reach its full potential in terms of economic and social development and achieve middle-income status by 2021.

"Bangladesh has made a significant progress in achieving MDGs 4 and 5 and Canada is proud of its support," she said.

During the meetings with the ministers, High Commissioner Cruden talked about Canada-Bangladesh relations, the development partnership between the two countries and trade relations.

Expressing satisfaction over her three-year stay in Bangladesh, she said, "I'm extremely pleased that over that period our bilateral trade relationship grew to over Canadian $1.8 billion and that Bangladesh has been confirmed as a country of focus for our development programme."