FM joins ARF summit, meets Hillary

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Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni met US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday at the 16th Ministerial Meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Phuket, Thailand, reports BSS.
The one-day meeting has drawn foreign ministers of member states as well as dialogue partners, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V Lavrov and EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, a foreign ministry press release said.
In a closed-door ministerial retreat, they talked about some regional issues including Myanmar, North Korea, Afghanistan and some general security issues like counter-terrorism and control of swine-flu.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the Bangladesh foreign minister met Hillary Clinton who recalled her phone conversation, saying that it was one of the most fruitful that she had over telephone.
Hillary said her government had a lot of interest in South Asia, especially in Bangladesh.
During the meeting, they agreed that a number of areas where the two countries can work together include issues related to climate change, women, children, human rights and counter-terrorism.
They also agreed on further intensification of bilateral economic cooperation including trade.
Hillary Clinton said she was expecting to receive the Bangladesh foreign minister for a bilateral visit to the United States during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) scheduled in late September.
In her meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Dipu Moni conveyed the gratefulness of the Bangladeshi people to Russia for their contribution to the Independence of Bangladesh.
Lavrov congratulated the Bangladesh foreign minister on her assumption of the office after a transparent and democratic election, and invited her to visit Moscow at a convenient time.
Dipu Moni also talked with the Malaysian foreign minister and enquired about the Malaysian cabinet's decision on continuation of freeze on foreign workers.
The Malaysian foreign minister said it was a reiteration of the existing decision so that unscrupulous manpower agents do not send prospective workers, as no jobs are being created there.
He reassured that the decision to take Bangladeshi workers still holds and said they will be taken once Malaysia starts recovering from the current economic recession.
The Bangladesh foreign minister also met her Australian counterpart Stephen Smith. During the meeting, they agreed that Bangladesh and Australia have been enjoying excellent bilateral relationship. They also agreed that a thorough review of bilateral issues would open up other possible areas of cooperation.
The two foreign ministers invited each other to visit their respective countries and agreed that the visits will be worked out at a mutually convenient time.
During the meeting with Dipu Moni, New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully asked how Bangladesh had so far escaped the fallout of the global economic recession.
In response, the Bangladesh foreign minister said a good policy mix of the government as well as steady remittance flow had so far shielded Bangladesh from the negative effects of global meltdown.