Move to spearhead global propaganda

The government is set to launch a worldwide campaign to highlight the country's economic and social achievements, including its recent upgradation to the lower middle-income country (LMIC) status, officials said.
The move has been taken to help improve the country's image globally, they said.
The high-ups of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) feel that key achievements of the government should circulate in and out of the country through different campaigns, the officials said.  
This month, the World Bank (WB) has upgraded Bangladesh's status as an LMIC.
The WB used last year's data to determine this year's ranking. Every year on July 1, the Washington-based lender revises the income classification of the world's economies based on estimates of Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. Bangladesh's per capita income was $1,080 in 2014 in line with the World Bank's GNI--higher than the multilateral lender's threshold set at $1,045.
The recent achievements will be presented in the upcoming UN General Assembly (UNGA), which is scheduled to be held in the USA in September.
Besides, the achievements will be highlighted across the country through different programmes on the eve of the UN assembly.
A set of programmes will be drawn up to highlight the government's special achievements locally and internationally. In this connection, a meeting will be held sometime this week at the PMO with Principal Secretary Md Abul Kalam Azad in the chair.
In the upcoming meeting, necessary steps and decisions will be taken to propagate the incumbent government's major activities, including improving its image and increasing its popularity across the world.
Upgrading to lower middle-income status, Land Boundary Agreement (LBA), four-nation road connectivity, execution of capital punishment and other key success stories will be enlisted for publicity.
Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) sought $ 0.4 million from the Ministry of Finance (MoF) in April and December 2014 for the 'Stand Alone Fund' for the current fiscal year.
The fund was set up to get mandate from different countries in favour of the Awami League-led government's various activities like the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) and enhancing its image and popularity, officials said.
BGR Group, a US firm, was appointed for one year from April 01, 2014 to March 31, 2015 to kick off overseas campaign to enhance support to and popularity of the government across the world.
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