DHAKA: US Ambassador in Bangladesh Dan Mozena said Bangladesh matters to America in so many ways as it bolsters relations with its neighbors, fosters greater regional stability
“… as Bangladesh one of the greatest contributors to international peacesupport operations, Bangladesh sustains global peace … Bangladesh matters …”, he added.
The outgoing US envoy said this at a program titled “America’s partnership with Bangladesh: stronger, deeper and broader than ever” at Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies on Sunday.
Mozena said ‘Among the world’s most populous countries, Bangladesh is critical to achieving global food security for the world’s surging population that might cross 9 billion in my lifetime, ‘nhallah”
He further said that America is the largest investor, the largest single country market for Bangladesh, our trade and investment relationship holds great promise to be so much more.
America also has an important values agenda in Bangladesh, as we believe that a democratic Bangladesh that respects its citizens’ human rights will be a stronger partner for us, he said.
Mozena said that to advance these many interests, America and, more specifically, my mission undertake to promote a Bangladesh that is peaceful, secure, prosperous, healthy and democratic.
This year we added a new annual bilateral engagement to the mix. Last month, here in Dhaka, we held the first ever Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement meeting. Although negotiations to conclude TICFA were spread over twelve years, the agreement is actually quite simple: the two countries get together at least once a year to identify obstacles to increasing trade and investment and how to overcome those obstacles, he added.
Our maiden TICFA meeting was a good success in launching this new forum. Each side was clear and candid in sharing its views on the obstacles to increasing bilateral trade and investment. I was so pleased with the TICFA meeting.
If I may, I’d like to divert the flow of my discourse for a moment, and address an issue that received considerable attention during the recently-concluded TICFA meeting, he added.
We also help the Navy enhance the Special Warfare and Diving Salvage (SWADS) or, as I call them, the Bangladeshi Navy Seals. The US also provided the Navy and the Bangladesh Coast Guard with an array of 25 foot and 38 foot ultra-fast boats, the fastest on the Bay.
Using these enhanced capabilities, Bangladesh has already slashed robberies in the Bay by nearly 70%, reduced insurance rates by 40%, and had Chittagong removed from the international listing of high-threat ports, he added.
America and Bangladesh are also partnering with the First Para Commanders and the Border Guard Bangladesh to enhance Bangladesh’s ability to secure its land borders, too. Increasingly, along both its land and maritime borders, Bangladesh is now better able to interdict trafficking of drugs, of arms and of people, to stop the movement of terrorists, and to protect its fish and other economic assets in the Bay.
Mozena featured so many things in his speech during his tenure and he showed his concern for further benefits for both the countries.
BDST: 1351 HRS, MAY 25, 2014
