Envoys’ confce in city from Nov 26

daily-sun.com

image (not from article) from

Md Enamul Hassan 14 November, 2017 12:00 AM 

The first-ever envoys’ conference of the country is going to be held at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the capital on November 26-28.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the three-day conference while President Abdul Hamid will speak on the occasion, diplomatic sources said.

Bangladeshi ambassadors, high commissioners, heads of missions, charge d'affaires, and deputy chief of missions abroad will participate in the conference.

Envoys deputed in different countries and multilateral institutions will brief the government on important developments in their respective areas of accreditation at the event.

The envoys will also present their recommendations on facing challenges and tapping opportunities arising out of such developments in their regions, the sources confirmed.

In the form of the existing DC conference, the government first thought of holding such kind of conference in 2012-13 while Dipu Moni was foreign minister. But it was not held for many reasons, the sources said.

According to a well-placed source, the stance and policy of the government over foreign policy, Rohingya crisis, international and bilateral relations, trade and business, welfare of expatriate workers will be discussed at the conference.

The foreign ministry will also assess the performance of the country’s different foreign missions and give necessary instructions through identifying their weakness.

The government will also take stock of the challenges and prospectus of the foreign missions in different sessions of the conference.

Important issues, including women empowerment, Bangladesh’s role in UN Peace Keeping Missions, and adverse impact of climate change on Bangladesh will also receive greater attention at the event.

The government will give clear instructions to the diplomats to raise the government’s stance over the Rohingya crisis to the international community, the source confirmed.

The dignitaries of the government, members of the civil society, international relations analysts and researchers, and career diplomats will also speak at the conference.

India and Pakistan regularly arrange such conference, but Bangladesh is arranging the event for the first time after its independence.

Talking to the daily sun, Dr Delwar Hossain, professor of International Relations department of Dhaka University, said it is a great initiative, though of late.

The conference will help develop professionalism and strengthen organisational understanding in the country’s foreign service, he said.

In reply to a query, Dr Delwar said no such kind of conference was held in the past, as the foreign policy was more president or prime minister-centric then.

This is definitely a sign of dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to arrange such a conference, he continued.

The international analyst is of the opinion that the foreign service should be given more importance as it is the era of globalisation.

He further said, “I don’t know what are on the agenda of the conference.

However, there should be a separate session on the Rohingya crisis at the event.”

It’s a long-term and severe challenge for Bangladesh and the country’s foreign missions have to work together to strengthen the public diplomacy over the crisis, he continued.

“And I hope this conference will bring an opportunity for the foreign service to do this job very well,” he expected.