Dhaka //
Nobel laureate after the fall of Sheikh Hasina. The United States, Bangladesh’s largest development partner, wants to support the reform efforts of the international government led by Muhammad Yunus. How the country can help in the reconstruction of the country came up in the discussion between the two countries.
The U.S. delegation and Bangladesh discussed increasing bilateral trade and investment as a priority area for U.S. cooperation on financial sector and revenue sector reforms. Apart from this, the United States international aid agency ‘USAID’ has announced an aid of 200 million dollars to Bangladesh to bring stability in the financial sector.
After arriving in Dhaka on Saturday, the US delegation chief advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Advisor on Foreign Affairs, M. Tauhid Hossain, Advisor on Finance and Trade. Salehuddin Ahmed held separate meetings with Foreign Secretary Jasim Uddin and Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansoor.
Most of the meetings except the meeting with Principal Adviser Muhammad Yunus were held at the Rashtriya Guest House Padma. The US delegation was led by Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury Department, Brent Neiman, and Foreign Secretary Jaseem Uddin led the Bangladesh delegation.
After the meeting between the two countries, Foreign Secretary Jasim Uddin told reporters that the interim government has assumed responsibility for a little more than a month.
In the meeting with the delegation, there was a general discussion about how the United States could participate in the changed situation and the thinking on government reform. He said, “We hope this visit will be a basis for increasing proper communication with the United States.” In the future, we will take this discussion forward at different stages.
The six-member delegation headed by Brent Neiman, the assistant minister of the US Treasury Department, is the chief advisor to Dhaka. Muhammad Yunus, Foreign Affairs Adviser. Touhid Hossain and financial adviser. Had a meeting with Salehuddin Ahmed. Secretary of Economic Relations Department, Chairman of Revenue Board, Commerce Secretary, Labor Secretary, Home Affairs and representatives of Bangladesh Bank were present in the meeting with the Foreign Secretary.
Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Dhaka said that the visiting US high-level delegation has assured Bangladesh of assistance in expanding economic opportunities, building institutional capacity and upholding human rights. The embassy announced this on their official Facebook page on Sunday.
“We are committed to supporting our partner Bangladesh in expanding economic opportunities, building institutional capacity, upholding human rights and mitigating climate risks,” the embassy said.
The foreign secretary said that the delegation of the United States government reiterated its commitment to work with the international government, and discussed various issues including the reform of the financial sector and revenue sector and the possible areas of cooperation of the United States in this regard, increasing bilateral trade and investment, labor environment, human rights protection, Rohingya. .
When asked whether there was a discussion about the return of smuggled money, Jasim Uddin said, “We have discussed reforms in the financial sector on a large scale and preliminary talks have been held on other issues including the smuggled money.” We may use the specialized knowledge that the United States has in this regard. But the talks have just begun. It will take some time to get its final form.
When asked what assurances the American party has given to the journalists, he said that the first assurance is that they want to work with the internal government and as a reflection of that they have sent a delegation at the beginning of the second month of government formation. Secondly, they have assured comprehensive support in all the sectors we have identified for financial reforms.
When asked whether he had brought any message from India, the foreign secretary said, India has an embassy in Bangladesh and Bangladesh has an embassy in India. If we want to discuss issues of bilateral interest between the two countries, these are the platforms for us.
A neighboring country is trying to destabilize Bangladesh and whether we have sought the cooperation of the United States in this regard, he said, “Our relationship with each country is a bilateral relationship. I don’t think we’ve ever had a discussion like this before. At least I did not have any such discussion.
When Donald Lu asked whether there was any discussion about the election, political situation and Bangladesh-India in Delhi, the foreign secretary said, “There was no discussion about the things you mentioned in the meeting with me.”
Stating that the meeting discussed the labor law, the foreign secretary said, “We have informed them about all the steps we have taken on the labor law and they have taken note of the steps.” These they recognize as significant progress. In this case, this discussion will continue.
Asked if the US is concerned about the ongoing unrest in the ready-made garment sector and the discussion on the return of GSP Plus, Jaseem Uddin said that there was no such talk in this meeting. There was a general discussion on GSP. Its process that has been talked about.
The Foreign Secretary also said that defense procurement was not discussed in this meeting. He said, there was a general discussion about getting financing from DFC (Development Finance Corporation). But there was no specific discussion.
Regarding the lifting of sanctions on RAB and the question of US assistance in conducting elections, the foreign secretary said, I have informed them about all the activities we are doing to reform RAB. This is an ongoing discussion. No assistance was sought with elections.
The Rohingya issue was discussed in the meeting. In this context, Jasim Uddin said, we have said that this is a long-term issue. It should be resolved. Recent developments on the Rohingya issue have drawn our attention.
Finance and trade adviser at noon. After the meeting with Salehuddin Ahmed, USAID Deputy Administrator Anjali Kaur, a member of the US delegation, said, “We have signed an agreement with the international government.” Under this, 200 million dollars will be given to the priority sectors of the government. The US wants to work with the interim government. We will now act according to the agreement. This agreement is mainly to advance the priority works of the government.
The Deputy Administrator said this agreement will contribute to the inclusive prosperity of the people of Bangladesh, especially in enhancing economic stability. We focus on health, governance. We are looking at ensuring the empowerment of the youth so that they can play a role for the country. The people of Bangladesh are the main priority here.
The United States is committed to helping Bangladesh expand economic activity, build institutional capacity, uphold human rights, and address climate change risks. Adviser on Foreign Affairs of the US delegation visiting Dhaka at Rashtriya Bhavan Padma on Sunday. He gave this message after meeting with Touhid Hossain.
US Department of Revenue Deputy Under Secretary Brent Neiman, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Loos and other officials were present in the meeting.
Regarding the meeting, the US Embassy in Dhaka said in a message that it was a pleasure to meet the Foreign Affairs Adviser at the State Guest House Padma. We are committed to supporting our partner Bangladesh in expanding economic activity, building institutional capacity, upholding human rights and addressing the risks of climate change.
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