Honourable Prime Minister (HPM) Sheikh Hasina reiterated her call to the international community and the United Nations (UN) to play intensified role in solving the Rohingya crisis by repatriating the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals to their motherland. The premier made this call while UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi paid a courtesy call on her at the bilateral meeting room of Lotte New York Palace hotel in New York. The Bangladesh premier restated that the Rohingya crisis can only be resolved through repatriating the forcibly displaced Rohingyas to their motherland Myanmar.The UNHCR High Commissioner also agreed with her on this matter.

Bangladesh national women's football team, which emerged as winner in the seven-nation SAFF Women’s Football Championship with all-win record, was accorded a fitting reception as they returned home from Nepal this week. Bangladesh clinched the first-ever SAFF Women's crown in their 2nd attempt after 2006, beating four times runners up and hosts Nepal by 3-1 in the final at Dashrath Stadium (Rangasala) in Kathmandu. The players and officials were welcomed at the airport with garlands and then they cut a cake. Thousands of football-crazy fans thronged Dhaka airport to welcome the women footballers for their glorious achievement. Meanwhile, HPM Sheikh Hasina congratulated all players, coach and the manager of the Bangladesh women's team for beating the hosts Nepal 3-1.

HPM Sheikh Hasina broke down in tears and was overwhelmed with emotion in New York while talking about the everyday ordeals of the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals - Rohingyas. She was speaking at a high-level meeting on the Rohingya crisis at a hotel. "She (PM) could not control her tears while talking about the hardship these displaced people (Rohingyas) have to go through every day," the Awami League tweeted. Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar and Bhasan Char Island. The government is following a model of `Inclusive Development.'

HPM Sheikh Hasina said homelessness is indeed a curse and it affects people in both developing and developed countries. “Our experience shows, it is within our capacity to do something about removing this curse. All our friends and stakeholders gathered here can forge a strong partnership to make that happen,” she said. The prime minister said this while speaking at a high-level side event on Sustainable Housing held at her place of residence in New York. Under her government, the country has achieved considerable economic success and for achieving that the HPM will highlight the steps Bangladesh has taken.

HPM Sheikh Hasina laid emphasis on the integration of women in decision-making process, saying that it is important to have them in leadership team to reflect on the solutions and benefit from their experiences and perspective. "Women are disproportionately affected during crises. It is, therefore, important to integrate women in decision-making for finding an effective solution to the crises," she said. Sheikh Hasina noted that women are shining in each and every sector, breaking all the stereotyping and showing indomitable courage and leadership skills. The premier made this remarks while addressing a “High Level Meeting of the UNGA Platform of Women Leaders Convened by the President of the General Assembly Csaba Korösi” at Trusteeship Council in the United Nations Headquarters.

Bangladesh received inward remittance worth over USD $1008.67 million (1,000 million = 1 billion) in the first 15 days of September, thanks to a set of initiatives as devised and rolled out by the government. The remittance inflow is expected to cross $2 billion in September while the inflow of remittances reached $2.09 billion in July and $2.03 billion in August, helping the county offset global economic fallout emanated from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine situation. In the space of last ten years, a raft of measures, as put in place under this government, opened up new destinations for manpower export while several institutions are operational in building skilled manpower.

The fiscal 2021-22 was a prolific year for the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Bepza), with its eight export processing zones (EPZs) posting the highest-ever growth in investment, export and employment. The EPZs received investments to the tune of $410 million last fiscal year, which is 20.26% higher than that of the previous year, according to data obtained from Bepza. During the same period, export earnings from the EPZs grew 30.41% to $8.7 billion while the number of new jobs surged by 36.13% to 64,160. As of June this year, 456 industrial entities, including 149 from the apparel sector, are operational at the eight EPZs in the country – Chattogram EPZ, Dhaka EPZ, Mongla EPZ, Ishwardi EPZ, Cumilla EPZ, Uttara EPZ, Adamjee EPZ, and Karnaphuli EPZ.

Impressed by the country’s measureable transformation over the years on different indices, World Bank (WB) Vice President for the South Asia Region Martin Raiser said “Bangladesh has made impressive achievements in development and economic growth”. In a vindication of the country’s remarkable rise on human development indices, the WB envoy said “As the countries in South Asia grapple with a multitude of shocks from Covid-19 to climate change and rising global inflation, I look forward to learning about Bangladesh’s experience in building resilience”. Under the prudent leadership of HPM Sheikh Hasina, her country has witnessed a strong surge in growth, alongside during the Covid pandemic, the country’s response earned global recognition both on economic and health front.

Riding on strong demand for apparel items made in Bangladesh, the shipment of garments to Japan, a promising Asian export destination, rose 25.81% year-on-year to $217.53 million in July-August. The receipts in the first two months of the previous fiscal year were $172.91 million, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) compiled by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). Japan is the only country in Asia where Bangladesh's shipment of garment items crossed $1-billion mark a lot earlier whereas many other promising nations such as India, Russia and China have not lived up to the expectations of local suppliers.