CG made remarkable success in foreign relations
Thursday, 16 August 2007
Remarkable progress has been made by Bangladesh in its relations with members of international community after Fakhruddin Ahmed had formed the caretaker government (CG) in January this year, reports BSS.
Since the present CG took over, the government had to apprise the members of international community of the situation under which state of emergency was declared, foreign ministry sources said.
The CG won support of the international community in the task of holding free, fair and credible elections, eradication of muscle and money powers from electoral process and the fight against corruption, they added.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) also addressed some of the concerns of certain countries in areas of human rights, due process of law and election schedule through constant engagements with members of the international community.
Steps taken towards separation of judiciary, progress in formation of National Human Rights Commission, accession to the UN Convention Against Nuclear Terrorism, strengthening of the independent Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), and reforms in Election Commission (EC) and Public Service Commission (PSC) have been widely acclaimed by different countries.
They said substantial progress has been made in improving relations with SAARC member countries.
The sources said intensification of engagements with Myanmar needs special mention as an achievement of diplomatic efforts of the present CG. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed for establishment of direct road link between the two countries by connecting Bowlibazar in Myanmar with Gundum in Bangladesh.
The construction of the road would lead to connectivity with Kunming in China and also with Thailand in near future, they added.
A decision in principle has been taken for contract farming in the Rakhine state of Myanmar to produce agricultural products for supplying them to Bangladesh markets.
Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury visited Myanmar and the construction minister from Yangoon had visited Dhaka recently to promote ties between the two countries. Foreign office consultation between foreign secretaries of the two close neighbours also took place in Dhaka which is seen as a good progress in improving bilateral ties.
The sources said the resumption of manpower export to Malaysia after a gap of 10 years is seen as another big diplomatic achievement of the CG. So far about 1,30,000 Bangladeshis found employment there. An MoU was signed with South Korea which would enable a sizeable number of Bangladeshi workers to find well paid jobs under Employment Permit System (EPS), the sources added.
The first ever visit by a Bahrain dignitary took place when minister of state for foreign affairs of Bahrain visited Dhaka. His visit laid the foundation for greater trading relations between the gulf countries and Bangladesh.
The labour minister of UAE who had been in Dhaka, has agreed in principle to recruit more workers from Bangladesh. About half a million Bangladeshis are working in the oil rich country and more people would continue to find jobs in the UAE, officials said.
Since the present CG took over, the government had to apprise the members of international community of the situation under which state of emergency was declared, foreign ministry sources said.
The CG won support of the international community in the task of holding free, fair and credible elections, eradication of muscle and money powers from electoral process and the fight against corruption, they added.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) also addressed some of the concerns of certain countries in areas of human rights, due process of law and election schedule through constant engagements with members of the international community.
Steps taken towards separation of judiciary, progress in formation of National Human Rights Commission, accession to the UN Convention Against Nuclear Terrorism, strengthening of the independent Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), and reforms in Election Commission (EC) and Public Service Commission (PSC) have been widely acclaimed by different countries.
They said substantial progress has been made in improving relations with SAARC member countries.
The sources said intensification of engagements with Myanmar needs special mention as an achievement of diplomatic efforts of the present CG. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed for establishment of direct road link between the two countries by connecting Bowlibazar in Myanmar with Gundum in Bangladesh.
The construction of the road would lead to connectivity with Kunming in China and also with Thailand in near future, they added.
A decision in principle has been taken for contract farming in the Rakhine state of Myanmar to produce agricultural products for supplying them to Bangladesh markets.
Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury visited Myanmar and the construction minister from Yangoon had visited Dhaka recently to promote ties between the two countries. Foreign office consultation between foreign secretaries of the two close neighbours also took place in Dhaka which is seen as a good progress in improving bilateral ties.
The sources said the resumption of manpower export to Malaysia after a gap of 10 years is seen as another big diplomatic achievement of the CG. So far about 1,30,000 Bangladeshis found employment there. An MoU was signed with South Korea which would enable a sizeable number of Bangladeshi workers to find well paid jobs under Employment Permit System (EPS), the sources added.
The first ever visit by a Bahrain dignitary took place when minister of state for foreign affairs of Bahrain visited Dhaka. His visit laid the foundation for greater trading relations between the gulf countries and Bangladesh.
The labour minister of UAE who had been in Dhaka, has agreed in principle to recruit more workers from Bangladesh. About half a million Bangladeshis are working in the oil rich country and more people would continue to find jobs in the UAE, officials said.