Metropolis Report –
US Assistant Deputy Secretary for South and Central Asia Afreen Akhter has expressed the hope that major political parties in Bangladesh would resort to the path of peace and harmony instead of violence and destruction to help strengthen democracy, speed up economic growth and uplift the socio-economic of the country.
Afreen Akhter expressed this view while speaking to leaders of the major political parties in Bangladesh against the backdrop of tense political situation in Bangladesh.
The western countries, particularly USA, Canada and EU countries, have expressed their concern in recent political violence between the major political parties that left several persons dead, several hundred injured and properties valued at millions of dollars damaged.
Afreen Akhter laid emphasis on political stability in the greater interest of promoting the USA-Bangladesh trade relations and USA investment in Bangladesh.
US Ambassador in Dhaka Peter Haas hosted the political dialogue at Gulshan in honour of US assistant deputy secretary for South and Central Asia Afreen Akhter on Sunday.
BNP standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmood Chowdhury, Awami League (AL) Foreign Affairs Committee Secretary Shammi Akhter and Special Envoy of Jatiya Party (GM Qader) Masroor Ahmed Mawla attended the meeting.
Meanwhile, US Assistant Deputy Secretary for South and Central Asia Afreen Akhter in a meeting with Foreign ministry’s Secretary (Maritime Affairs Unit) Rear Admiral (Retd) Md Khurshed Alam expressed the US’s interest in cooperating with Bangladesh over different issues related to maritime security including combating illegal fishing.
“Very exciting to be here to talk about a whole range of issues,” Akhter told reporters briefly after emerging from the meeting at foreign ministry here.
She added they also talked regarding the issue over forcefully displaced Rohingyas.
Akhter arrived in Dhaka on Saturday afternoon (November 5) on a two-day visit to Dhaka.
Meanwhile, USA will continue to be a major export destination for apparel items made in Bangladesh as Washington is working with Dhaka to improve the condition at the factories in the country, said a senior official of the US.
The US has been the single-largest export destination for Bangladesh for decades.
Its standing has been maintained despite higher inflationary pressure on consumers stemming from the escalated commodity prices amid the Russia-Ukraine war and the fallout of Covid-19.
The overall export from Bangladesh to the US grew at 49.35 per cent to $10.41 billion in the immediate past fiscal year of 2021-22, the highest pace of growth, data from the Export Promotion Bureau showed. The receipts stood at $6.97 billion in 2020-21.
Garment shipment raked in $9.01 billion in the last fiscal year, clocking 51.68 per cent year-on-year growth compared to $5.94 billion a year earlier.
