Foreign adviser invites UN chief to visit Bangladesh, meets UNCTAD top boss

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GENEVA, July 2 (UNB): Adviser for Foreign Affairs Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury Monday handed over to United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki Moon a letter containing a warm invitation to visit Bangladesh at a mutually convenient time.
Both are currently in Genera in connection with the high level segment of the meeting of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) that opened at the UN European Headquarters in Geneva Monday and was inaugurated by the UN Secretary General.
The foreign adviser, who is leading the Bangladesh delegation to the conference, will present a report on Bangladesh's success story in poverty alleviation to the ECOSOC ministers tomorrow (Tuesday).
"I told Ban Ki Moon that we see him as a great friend of Bangladesh and conveyed to him the greetings of Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed. I also personally handed over to him a letter from me cordially inviting him to visit Bangladesh. He accepted with warm thanks and said he would very much like to come", Chowdhury said afterwards.
Later, the adviser paid a call on UNCTAD Secretary General Supachai Panitchpakdi and thanked him for the support Bangladesh has been receiving in the areas of trade, investment and capacity building.
The adviser also sought immediate assistance in training Bangladeshi officials in trade negotiations, in collaboration with UNDP-Bangladesh.
"We've achieved a high level of social and political stability in Bangladesh now, and conditions are most appropriate for greater foreign investment. UNCTAD can help us achieve this, and the Secretary General assured me it would", he told the media after the meeting.