South Asia in a Transforming World: The Bangladesh Case With a meeting at TEPAV, world's transformation with South Asia as a case study with the participation of His Excellency Mohammed Mirajul Quayes, Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh.
ANKARA - TEPAV opened to discussion the circumstances for the South Asia in a transforming world in a meeting with His Excellency Mohammed Mirajul Quayes, Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh.
Delivering a speech at TEPAV on Monday, April 25, 2011, Mohammed Mirajul Quayes, Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh, drew attention to the efforts of Bangladesh for democratization and integration into the international community. Quayes stated that Bangladesh came to the fore not as a post-colonial country but as a country that emphasizes the rule of law and secularism and that brings peacekeeping efforts to its agenda. In this context stressing that democracy is a key element in the South Asia, he stated that post-conflict restructuring required more effort. He maintained that women in development projects, agricultural models and local development plans were the essential elements of the current process and added that such efforts must be supported by micro-level initiatives.
Micro-finance models in some cases cause problems
Expressing that the prominent microfinance models had positive effects for the integration of women, nutrition of children and improvement of the agricultural sector, Mohammed Mirajul Quayes maintained that there had been cases where people could not repay their debt and lost their properties.
Least developed out of the system
Touching upon the relations with Turkey, Quayes stated that Turkey and Bangladesh aimed to increase the bilateral trade volume to US$ 3 billion from the current US$ 700 million and that their side was ready to sign bilateral business agreements with Turkey to this end. Noting that Turkey and Bangladesh are members to common international organizations, he added that they especially attached importance to the common membership of the two countries to the Developing 8 (D8). Quayes reminded that the UN's 4th conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC) will be held in Istanbul in May and said that this organization has to become a part of the system.
Upon another question from the audience, he maintained that Bangladeshis were a traditionally inclusive nation. Concerning the new world order, Mohammed Mirajul Quayes stated that the new world order was not to fix things but to create things to be fixed.
