EU concerned over negative image of Bangladesh
Dhaka, May 9 (UNB) - The Ambassadors of the European nations on Wednesday expressed their grave concern over the negative image of Bangladesh abroad caused by hartals, street violence, corruption, killing and disappearances.
They called for dialogue between the parties to resolve the political problems and create congenial environment to attract foreign companies to make investment in Bangladesh.
The observations were made at a press conference marking the European Day today as well as the 40 years of Partnership between Bangladesh and the European Union.
Head of the EU Delegation in Dhaka Ambassador William Hanna chaired the briefing attended by Ambassador of Netherlands Alphons Hennekens, German Ambassador Holger Michael, Danish Ambassador Sven Olling, Swedish Ambassador Anneli Lindahl Kenny, Italian Amabssador Giorgio Gugliemino, Spanish Ambassador Luis Tjeda Chacon, Bright High Commissioner Rober Gibson and French Ambassador Michel Trinquier.
Replying to a question, Ambassador Hanna expressed concern over the disappearance of BNP leader Ilias Ali and killing of garments union leader Aminul Islam, and suggested full investigation into these cases.
About political confrontation over the issue of the caretaker government, he said both the major parties should exercise restraint and engage in dialogue within or outside the parliament to resolve the issue.
Asked about the human rights situation in Bangladesh, Hanna said the human rights is the central point of the EU development cooperation in Bangladesh.
Swedish Ambassador Kenny said steps should be in place to minimise the infringement on the human rights and urged the civil society and the media to highlight the issue.
About the issue of corruption, Ambassador Hanna said EU shows zero tolerance to corruption in its projects in Bangladesh.
Ambassador Hennekens said the media should expose the corruption taking place everyday in different areas. He expressed his utter surprise that neither BNP nor Awami League while in power with huge parliamentary majority enacted any strong anti-corruption legislation.
The Ambassador said they do not want that their taxpayers’ money can be used illegally.
Asked if the EU will mediate between the two parties to get them to dialogue, Ambassador Hanna said their role is support and encourage the parties to sit for the dialogue.
In reply to another question, British High Commissioner Robert Gibson said violent demonstration and hartal impedes production and harm economy. They try hard so the British-aided development projects are not affected by the hartals.
He said the British government’s training programme for RAB has finished and there is no plan to launch fresh training programme for the elite force.
German Ambassador Holger Michael suggested improvement of the investment climate in Bangladesh by addressing the problems of infrastructure, electricity, transport and bureaucracy to woo the foreign investment in this country.
Danish Ambassador Sven Olling said news of violence and disappearance appeared in headlines of newspapers here give devastating signal to the outside world and discourages foreign investors to invest their money.
Spanish Ambassador Luis Tejada Chacon said they are trying to revert the negative image of Bangladesh to a new image. Otherwise, foreign companies will go to elsewhere from Bangladesh for investment, which he said would be unfortunate for the country.
French Ambassador Trinquier said it is difficult to bring in French companies here in this country due to image problem. Apart from their efforts to give a positive picture of Bangladesh to his country, it needs support from the Bangladesh side also to change the scenario.
Asked if the EU will help repatriate the Rohingya refugees to their homeland from Bangladesh, Ambassador Hanna said they are encouraged to see the democratic reforms in Myanmar and hoped that a situation would be created for safe return of the refugees.
About the bilateral trade between Bangladesh and the EU, he mentioned that despite economic downturn, Bangladesh’s export to the EU market has increased by 28 percent, saying that there is room for further increase in the volume of export.
The Ambassador said the EU is the biggest development partner of Bangladesh providing over 500 million Euros to this country annually.
They called for dialogue between the parties to resolve the political problems and create congenial environment to attract foreign companies to make investment in Bangladesh.
The observations were made at a press conference marking the European Day today as well as the 40 years of Partnership between Bangladesh and the European Union.
Head of the EU Delegation in Dhaka Ambassador William Hanna chaired the briefing attended by Ambassador of Netherlands Alphons Hennekens, German Ambassador Holger Michael, Danish Ambassador Sven Olling, Swedish Ambassador Anneli Lindahl Kenny, Italian Amabssador Giorgio Gugliemino, Spanish Ambassador Luis Tjeda Chacon, Bright High Commissioner Rober Gibson and French Ambassador Michel Trinquier.
Replying to a question, Ambassador Hanna expressed concern over the disappearance of BNP leader Ilias Ali and killing of garments union leader Aminul Islam, and suggested full investigation into these cases.
About political confrontation over the issue of the caretaker government, he said both the major parties should exercise restraint and engage in dialogue within or outside the parliament to resolve the issue.
Asked about the human rights situation in Bangladesh, Hanna said the human rights is the central point of the EU development cooperation in Bangladesh.
Swedish Ambassador Kenny said steps should be in place to minimise the infringement on the human rights and urged the civil society and the media to highlight the issue.
About the issue of corruption, Ambassador Hanna said EU shows zero tolerance to corruption in its projects in Bangladesh.
Ambassador Hennekens said the media should expose the corruption taking place everyday in different areas. He expressed his utter surprise that neither BNP nor Awami League while in power with huge parliamentary majority enacted any strong anti-corruption legislation.
The Ambassador said they do not want that their taxpayers’ money can be used illegally.
Asked if the EU will mediate between the two parties to get them to dialogue, Ambassador Hanna said their role is support and encourage the parties to sit for the dialogue.
In reply to another question, British High Commissioner Robert Gibson said violent demonstration and hartal impedes production and harm economy. They try hard so the British-aided development projects are not affected by the hartals.
He said the British government’s training programme for RAB has finished and there is no plan to launch fresh training programme for the elite force.
German Ambassador Holger Michael suggested improvement of the investment climate in Bangladesh by addressing the problems of infrastructure, electricity, transport and bureaucracy to woo the foreign investment in this country.
Danish Ambassador Sven Olling said news of violence and disappearance appeared in headlines of newspapers here give devastating signal to the outside world and discourages foreign investors to invest their money.
Spanish Ambassador Luis Tejada Chacon said they are trying to revert the negative image of Bangladesh to a new image. Otherwise, foreign companies will go to elsewhere from Bangladesh for investment, which he said would be unfortunate for the country.
French Ambassador Trinquier said it is difficult to bring in French companies here in this country due to image problem. Apart from their efforts to give a positive picture of Bangladesh to his country, it needs support from the Bangladesh side also to change the scenario.
Asked if the EU will help repatriate the Rohingya refugees to their homeland from Bangladesh, Ambassador Hanna said they are encouraged to see the democratic reforms in Myanmar and hoped that a situation would be created for safe return of the refugees.
About the bilateral trade between Bangladesh and the EU, he mentioned that despite economic downturn, Bangladesh’s export to the EU market has increased by 28 percent, saying that there is room for further increase in the volume of export.
The Ambassador said the EU is the biggest development partner of Bangladesh providing over 500 million Euros to this country annually.
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