Bangladesh Embassy hosts “Embassy Night”—a special press briefing for the US National Press Club members

UsaNewsOnline.com: The Embassy of Bangladesh organized a special press briefing at the Bangabandhu auditorium of the Embassy November 5. Titeld as “ Bangladesh Embassy Night”—this is the second consecutive year, the Embassy has hosted such event in collaboration with the National Press Club (NPC) of the USA. More than 50 representatives from mainstream US media including Washognon Post, BBC, AP, Voice of America as well as members of National Press Club (NPC) Board of Governors and Presient of the  NPC attended the event.

H.E. the Ambassador of Bangladesh to the USA Mr. Mohammad Ziauddin delivered a key-note speech at the event highlighting various dimensions of US-Bangladesh bilateral relations. He also elaborated on various socio-economic initiatives of the present Government putting democracy and economic prosperity on solid foundation. He stressed that within the last four decades of Bangladesh’s journey as a sovereign nation, the country has evolved as a role model for the developing world in many socio-economic areas.

With particular reference to the recently concluded US-Bangladesh Partnership Dialogue, Ambassador Ziauddin said that the relations between the two countries are set on a complimentary framework surrounding their national interests. He added that by recognizing areas of each other’s strength, the countries look forward to a deeper and stronger relation in the days ahead. Acknowledging the concerns of the various US stakeholders on the labor and safety standards in the RMG factories in the country, he offered a detailed account on the significant progress made by the Government and the factory owners in this field since the tragic incident of Rana plaza collapse. He also offered an analysis about various disconnects surrounding the decision of the US administration to suspend Bangladesh’s GSP facilities . He urged upon the journalists to help building a case in favour of Bangladesh’s duty and quota free access to the US market.

After the deliberation, Ambassador Ziauddin took on questions from the journalists. The Q/A session covered a wide range of issues surrounding US-Bangladesh bilateral relations including, among other things, Bangladesh-India relations, Bangladesh-China relations,  climate change, countering terrorism and violent extremism, FDI in power and energy sector, women-empowerment, freedom of press, civil society, Grameen Bank etc.

Mr. Mayron Belkind, the President of the National Press Club moderated the Q/A session. In his remarks, he thanked Bangladesh Embassy for organizing the event. He termed the event as an important platform for sharing ideas and perspectives between the Embassy and the mainstream media in the USA.

At the end of the programme, the guests were served with traditional Bangladeshi cuisine.