Handout                                                                                                    Number : 2225

Commonwealth Secretary General’s Maiden Visit to Bangladesh

Dhaka, August 9 :

Commonwealth Secretary General Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC is visiting Bangladesh with a four members delegation on a three-day working tour from 8 August 2018. This is a part of her first official visit to the three Asian Commonwealth member states Sri Lanka, Brunei and Bangladesh.

She started her first day in Bangladesh with taking part in a Seminar at Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) where she gave a talk as a Guest of Honour on the topic of ‘The Commonwealth Advantage : Progress and Potential’. Foreign Minister A. H. Mahmood Ali M.P. and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam M.P. highlighted their ideas on what kind of Commonwealth Bangladesh would like to see with Commonwealth reform and touched upon the programs and priorities preferred by Bangladesh in the Seminar.

After the seminar, she attended a special session on Ocean Governance and Blue Economy which was held in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the afternoon where Foreign Secretary Md. Shahidul Haque, Secretary of Maritime Affairs Unit Rear Admiral Md. Khurshed Alam (Retd.) and senior officials from concerned ministries of the Government were present and discussed cooperation in developing Blue Economy of Bangladesh.

 Later she called on Foreign Minister A H Mahmood Ali. They discussed Commonwealth issues and matters of Bangladesh-Commonwealth bilateral interests in the meeting. Commonwealth’s cooperation and partnership in wide ranging areas also came into discussion. They agreed to enhance cooperation and stressed the use of Commonwealth advantages. The meeting was followed by an official dinner hosted by Foreign Minister Ali in honour of the Secretary General and attended by a number of Ministers, officials of the Government and Civil societies.

The Secretary General called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office on 9 August 2018. Trade and investment facilitations, Blue Economy, forcibly displaced Rohingas from Rakhaine State, SME & Women Entrepreneurship, empowerment of women & youth, Commonwealth sports for development & peace, best practices sharing and Commonwealth cooperation figured in the discussion during the courtesy call. She also met Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Foreign Affairs and other senior Ministers on the same day. Earlier in the morning she paid a visit to Bangabandhu Memorial Museum.

The Secretary General is leaving on Friday evening.

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Monzur/Mahmud/Mosharaf/Salimuzzaman/2018/1930 Hrs.