Foreign policy should be based on nat'l consensus, says Iftekhar
Thursday, 12 June 2008
The Foreign policy of Bangladesh should be based on national consensus on what is the perceived national interest of the country, Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said Wednesday, reports UNB.
Addressing mid-level officials of different ministries at a seminar at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka, he said there were two major purposes Bangladesh foreign policy was devoted to: protection of sovereignty and independence, and ensuring flow of external resources for development.
These twin-goals could be pursued by following a ten-point strategy. These are: stabilising relations with neighbours, fostering relations with multilateral frameworks, expanding cooperation with partner countries, ensuring duty- and quota-free access of our manufactures to foreign markets, exploring new markets for our manpower export and ensuring their welfare, attracting foreign investments, negotiating favourable trading arrangements in the WTO, being active in the UN system, supporting peace-keeping operations and finally propagating the richness of our culture abroad to heighten interest in us as a civilising agent in the global arena.
Dr Chowdhury said while relations with the US and the European Union remained key, it was also a time to focus on Asia, particularly the Gulf, former Soviet republics, ASEAN, China and Japan.
"Because the current century belongs to Asia," he told the officials.
"The world is changing and we need to constantly adapt to these changes, or we will lag behind. Bangladesh is lucky to have sufficient intellectual resources that must be employed in the formulation and execution of our external and domestic strategies," he said.
The event was presided over by Principal of the academy Shahed Akhter. Other speakers were former principal of the academy Ambassador Anwar Hashim, FBCCI President Annisul Haq and Salahdin Imam, an analyst.
Addressing mid-level officials of different ministries at a seminar at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka, he said there were two major purposes Bangladesh foreign policy was devoted to: protection of sovereignty and independence, and ensuring flow of external resources for development.
These twin-goals could be pursued by following a ten-point strategy. These are: stabilising relations with neighbours, fostering relations with multilateral frameworks, expanding cooperation with partner countries, ensuring duty- and quota-free access of our manufactures to foreign markets, exploring new markets for our manpower export and ensuring their welfare, attracting foreign investments, negotiating favourable trading arrangements in the WTO, being active in the UN system, supporting peace-keeping operations and finally propagating the richness of our culture abroad to heighten interest in us as a civilising agent in the global arena.
Dr Chowdhury said while relations with the US and the European Union remained key, it was also a time to focus on Asia, particularly the Gulf, former Soviet republics, ASEAN, China and Japan.
"Because the current century belongs to Asia," he told the officials.
"The world is changing and we need to constantly adapt to these changes, or we will lag behind. Bangladesh is lucky to have sufficient intellectual resources that must be employed in the formulation and execution of our external and domestic strategies," he said.
The event was presided over by Principal of the academy Shahed Akhter. Other speakers were former principal of the academy Ambassador Anwar Hashim, FBCCI President Annisul Haq and Salahdin Imam, an analyst.