Dec 14, 2017
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Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called upon the developed nations to deliver on their commitments to ensure climate justice and meet the historical responsibility to protect the world. The Bangladesh Premier was addressing the One Planet Summit at the La Seine Musicale in Seguin Island. HPM Sheikh Hasina, also a member of the UN-World Bank High Level Panel on Water, said Bangladesh was committed to prioritising the water sustainability issues in all its economic, social and environmental actions. On the sidelines, the prime minister held a bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at Elysee Palace where the latter assured of all out support to find a permanent solution to the ongoing Rohingya crisis at the UN and other international forums.
The government has officially launched the 999 emergency helpline after a year in the testing phase. Police, fire service and ambulance services will be available from any phone (mobile or fixed line) dialling the number. The project was inaugurated this week by HPM Sheikh Hasina’s Adviser on ICT Affairs Sajeeb Wazed. The service will be monitored and managed by the police force. The 999 number is completely ‘toll free’ and citizens will not need to pay a fee to use it.
The United Nations General Assembly, like each year, has unanimously adopted Bangladesh's resolution on the Culture of Peace. It received support of all member states present at the General Assembly on Monday and was adopted by consensus. According to media reports, HPM Sheikh Hasina remains personally attached to the issue, and underscores the importance of a 'whole-of-society' approach in the national context for promoting a culture of peace. The concept of 'Culture of Peace' resolution was first noted by Bangladesh in 1997. The whole world celebrated "Decade of Culture of Peace" following that.
Bangladesh's government condemned a terrorist attack on New York City's subway station near Times Square reiterating its Zero Tolerance stance against terrorism, the government said in a statement. "A terrorist is a terrorist irrespective of his or her ethnicity or religion, and must be brought to justice," according to the statement issued by Bangladesh embassy in Washington DC, adding that HPM Sheikh Hasina's government of Bangladesh has showed zero tolerance policy against terrorism.
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
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Bangladesh signed a $150 million financing agreement with World Bank to modernise trade related infrastructure, systems and procedures. The government will set up a National Single Window, which will allow traders to submit all import, export and transit information required by customs and other key regulatory agencies via a single electronic gateway under a WB-financed project. With the loan, four land ports -- Bhomra, Sheola, Ramgarh and Benapole -- will be developed and improved under Bangladesh Regional Connectivity Project 1.
Works are underway to prepare e-government master plans for 10 municipalities as part of its digitisation campaign to make digital services available for people. Utility services, including holding taxes, water bill and other ICT-based services, will be made available after implementation of the master plan. This move coincides with the government’s plan to implement 'Vision of 2021' – transforming the future of Bangladesh through technological advancement by 2021.
Bangladesh has sent about 9.59 lakh workers abroad with employments till November this year marking a 28% growth as compared to that in the previous year. Of the total, the highest number about 513,862 workers were sent to Saudi Arabia followed by 60,707 workers to Qatar, 59,000 to Oman, 33,100 to Kuwait, 25, 775 to Singapore, 83,250 to Malaysia, 16,897 to Bahrain and 12,353 to Jordan. Interestingly, the employment of female workers was also increased in different countries. Some 113,009 female workers were sent to Middle Eastern countries.
Agricultural experts today said that Bangladesh has already made significant progress in crop diversification over the years which helped creating a major breakthrough in development of nutrition level among the rural people. In 2011-12, share of rice in total cropped area was 76.8 per cent while it decreased to 73.1 per cent in 2015 which was due to increase the cultivation of the crops other than rice, they said at a seminar on 'Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in Bangladesh' held at the capital. During the period, share of wheat cultivation increased to 2.2 per cent, from 1.5,, Maize 2 per cent from 0.8, Pulse 2.3 per cent from 2, oilseeds 3.9 per cent from 2.3, potatoes 1.8 per cent from 1.7, vegetable 3.9 per cent from 3.8 and banana 0.6 per cent from 0.4 per cent.
TRADE AND INVSETMENT
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Exports retained its growth momentum in November fetching $3.06 billion on the back of higher shipments of garments, jute and jute goods, frozen fish and footwear. Last month's receipts rose 6.22 percent compared to the same month last year when Bangladesh shipped goods worth $2.88 billion, according to the Export Promotion Bureau. The total shipment in the July-November period stood at $14.56 billion, a 6.86 percent rise year-on-year. The momentum also helped exports cross the $3-billion mark again after a gap of two months.
The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety announced Thursday that since the release of the fourth Annual Report on November 10, thirteen additional Alliance-affiliated factories completed all material components outlined in their Corrective Action Plans (CAPs), bringing the total to 247. Jim Moriarty Amb, Alliance Executive Director, said he commend each of these factories for fulfilling their commitment to provide safer working conditions for their employees, lending out optimism that remediation in all Alliance factories will be largely complete before the transition in 2018, and that this transition will enable sustained progress well beyond their tenure in Bangladesh.
INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL COOPERATION
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Bangladesh has joined the international community to reject US President Donald Trump’s shift on Jerusalem, saying the move will jeopardise the peace efforts Washington itself had initiated. HPM Sheikh Hasina said the Palestinians have the right for their own state and that the 1967 border has to be reinstated. Referring to the 2000 peace effort brokered by the then President Bill Clinton, HPM Sheikh Hasina said, it’s the US that started the effort to end the conflict. In fact, a Nobel Peace prize was awarded for it, and now they are jeopardising it.
China encouraged on Thursday 'dialogue and consultation' between Bangladesh and Myanmar to resolve the Rohingya crisis and appreciated progress made so far to that direction. Wang Yajun, Assistant Minister, International Department, Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said that their country will continue to work closely with the relevant parties to promote dialogue and consultation in this regards for a good and long term solution. He expressed satisfaction over the signing of an instrument between Bangladesh and Myanmar to repatriate Rohingyas living in Bangladesh saying peace in the neighbourhood is always important and it is always blessing to have good and peaceful neighbours in the neighbourhood.
DIGITAL BANGLADESH
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Women entrepreneurs across the country have started marking their footprints in ICT sector thanks to the government’s efforts to promote women entrepreneurship in the thriving sector. In last three years, the government has created 1,600 women ICT entrepreneurs, freelancers and professionals across the country while the process is underway to create 1,400 more women entrepreneurs and freelancers, according to data provided by SME Foundation. The government also arranges matchmaking events by involving bankers and ICT entrepreneurs to make available collateral-free loans for women entrepreneurs at special interest rates from SME Foundation’s credit wholesaling program.
HPM Sheikh Hasina has inaugurated a Software Technology Park in Jessore to spread the benefits of developments in the ICT sector to Bangladesh’s southwestern region. The park will create jobs for 5,000 young people in the ten districts of the Khulna division. In addition to the 15-storey main building, a 12-storey dormitory was also constructed at the site. The dormitory features a gym, a convention centre and underground parking. A 33KVA power sub-station was built to meet the power needs. Fifty-five companies, including two from Japan, have been allocated space inside the park.
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